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PI Brief Update

Is It Strictly Illegal? - Simon Anderson, Park Square Barristers

06/10/15. It is with starry-eyed nostalgia that lawyers recall undergraduate law questions. I was recently presented with the following set of facts that resembled an examination paper on the topic of ex turpi causa non oritur actio.

Master Dennis sustained a significant subdural haematoma in a motorcycle accident when he was aged 16. He owned a trials bike, although it had no number plates, lights or road fund licence. Unsurprisingly, Dennis had not yet obtained his motorcycle licence, and was uninsured.

Whilst riding at about 20 mph on a public highway with his best friend, Gnasher, riding as pillion, Dennis was passed by two police officers on motorcycles. Dennis was wearing a crash helmet and goggles, which he removed as the police approached. Neither officer was sounding sirens, displaying lights or making hand gestures. Unfortunately for Dennis and Gnasher one of the police officers kicked the wheel of their motorcycle and they fell off. Dennis was knocked unconscious and immediately taken to hospital.

Dennis was later prosecuted for offences relating to his absent tax, licence and insurance. He was not, however, prosecuted in respect of any other driving offence. Discuss the liability of the police (15 marks). What if Dennis had been riding dangerously? (5 marks)

Assuming Dennis not to have been driving dangerously, then the present facts can be distinguished from the Court of Appeal judgment in...

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All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.