Swindells & Anor v Commissioner Of Police For Metropolis [2001] EWCA Civ 948 (13 June 2001)

Neutral Citation Number: [2001] EWCA Civ 948 A2/2001/0428 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION) ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION (Mr Justice McCombe) Royal Courts of Justice Strand London WC2 Wednesday, 13th June 2001 B e f o r e : MR JUSTICE CARNWATH ____________________ (1) DA CHRISTIE SWINDELLS (2) ROY SWINDELLS (a Minor) (Represented by his litigation friend Da Christie Swindells) Claimants/Applicants -v- THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS Defendant/Respondent ____________________ Computer Aided Transcript of the Palantype Notes of Smith Bernal Reporting Limited 190 Fleet Street London EC4A 2AG Tel: 020 7421 4040 Fax: 020 7831 8838 (Official Shorthand Writers to the Court) ____________________ The Applicant Claimant Mrs Swindells appeared in person. The Respondent Defendant did not appear and was not represented. ____________________ HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT ____________________ Crown Copyright © MR JUSTICE CARNWATH: This is an application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal against an order of Mr Justice McCombe of 6th February 2001. The background is that the claimants, Mrs Swindells and her son, claim damages for wrongful imprisonment and alleged assaults by the police in an incident in 1996. For the purposes of this hearing the relevant matter is an order of Master Hodgson made on 23rd June 2000, in which he ordered the claimants to serve particulars of claim by 21st July and, in so far as they related to a claim for personal injuries, they were to be served together with medical evidence. The claimant served detailed particulars on, I think, 10th July, but there was no medical evidence other than a note by a doctor in May 1996 referring the claimant for an x-ray of her left wrist. The note contains the word "assault" (in quotation marks), but there is nothing there to indicate what the doctor thought about the matter or, indeed, what emerged from the x-ray. There is also a prescription for certain drugs. That is not the sort of evidence that the Master had in mind. There was an application by the defendant for the matter to be struck out or summarily dismissed. That came before His Honour Judge Gibbs on 8th November 2000, when the claimant did not appear. There was some discussion as to whether she had been served, but the judge was satisfied, I assume, that she had been served, because he made the order that the claim be struck out. The order of Mr Justice McCombe of 6th February was, in effect, an appeal against His Honour Judge Gibbs's order, although it seems to have been expressed as an application by the claimant to re-list. Mr Justice McCombe rejected the case and confirmed the order of His Honour Judge Gibbs. Under section 55 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 this court can only allow an appeal to be brought if the court considers that the appeal would raise an important point of principle or practice or there is some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear it. In my view this is not such a case. There is no point of principle involved and no other compelling reason. Quite apart from that, the claimants are in the position that they still have no evidence to comply with Master Hodgson's order. I have been shown a letter of 18th May from Thamesmead Medical Associates which refers to multiple pain suffered by Mrs Swindells relating to chronic headaches caused by an injury a few years back, with neck pains, shoulder pains and other matters. However, there is nothing to show that that was linked to what happened in 1996. Indeed, the papers show that Mrs Swindells had previous medical complaints before the incident. In any event, it seems to me that under the Access to Justice Act 1999 I cannot grant permission in this case. While having sympathy for Mrs Swindells' position, I have to dismiss this application. Order: application for permission to appeal dismissed. BAILII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Donate to BAILII