Claiming against the Police

naijapower

Optimist wrote: »

Yes, you can take the police to court for various thing. Do you have something particular in mind ?

Well, they completely messed up a simple burglary investigation and this has caused me load of stress. Though my insurance paid out, it still affects me as my premium has risen etc.
Police have accepted they were poor and said sorry.

My first problem would be how to quantify my stress and the distraction i suffered. e.g. the anger from the poor treatment affected my business as i became less focussed. In the heat of the moment, i didn't handle most of my business appts properly and lost out as a result

Optimist

naijapower wrote: »

Well, they completely messed up a simple burglary investigation and this has caused me load of stress. Though my insurance paid out, it still affects me as my premium has risen etc.
Police have accepted they were poor and said sorry.

My first problem would be how to quantify my stress and the distraction i suffered. e.g. the anger from the poor treatment affected my business as i became less focussed. In the heat of the moment, i didn't handle most of my business appts properly and lost out as a result

I think you need specific legal advice about suing for negligence.

You might in the first instance try a law centre if there is one near you
http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/lawcentres/detail/find/

However at the end of the day you are probably going to need the services of a solicitor. Some will give the first half hour of advice for free. Your local CAB will have a list of who these are

naijapower

On the other hand, is it not proper i contact Police in the first instance to ask for compensation as a result of negligence?
Though i have been told the Police do not offer compensation in this kind of episode.
Would this be an unusual request? Surely it would save their time and mine i.e. save us 'fighting' in court.

Optimist

naijapower wrote: »

On the other hand, is it not proper i contact Police in the first instance to ask for compensation as a result of negligence?
Though i have been told the Police do not offer compensation in this kind of episode.
Would this be an unusual request? Surely it would save their time and mine i.e. save us 'fighting' in court.

I assumed from the fact that you said that they had apologised that you had already put in a complaint against them. By all means try that route first however I would think they will consider the apology sufficient and highly doubtful without a court order they will offer financial restitution.

Torby

seek legal advice....

stevemLS

PACE requires that the police take "reasonable steps" before executing a search warrant.

Obviously what is reasonable is open to interpretation. The fact that the person they were looking for was on the electoral roll would probably be sufficient.

s88 of the Police Act 1996 makes the chief constable liable for the wrongful acts of his officers. Therefore all civil proceedings against the police are issued against the "Chief Constable of xxx Police". The police occupy no special position in terms of being the defendant in civil proceedings although they enjoy immunity in actions for trespass committed in good faith with lawful authority - that authority is given by a properly issued search warrant.

RobertoMoir

naijapower wrote: »

On the other hand, is it not proper i contact Police in the first instance to ask for compensation as a result of negligence?
Though i have been told the Police do not offer compensation in this kind of episode.
Would this be an unusual request? Surely it would save their time and mine i.e. save us 'fighting' in court.

You could write a letter to the chief constable, or to the police complaints commission or whatever it's called.

You are not going to get better advice from a bunch of people on the internet who aren't aware of the ins and outs of the case than you would from a solicitor though. You really should consult one if you feel you have a case here.