News
The family of a man shot dead by police while naked and unarmed has won the go ahead to launch a civil case for assault.
In Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex, five law lords gave relatives of James Ashley—who was shot when police raided his flat in 1998—the green light to launch a civil case, even though the shooter, PC Chris Sherwood, has been cleared of murder and no more damages may be forthcoming.
Jeremy Clarke-Williams, litigation partner at Russell Jones & Walker, who acted for Sherwood, an intervener in the case, says the key issue was whether it was appropriate for a civil claim for assault and battery to proceed to trial where it was accepted that even if they succeeded, the family could get no more damages than had already been conceded by the chief constable.
He says: “It means the only realistic remedy available on the assault claim is a discretionary one; in that the trial judge may decide to make a declaration that Ashley was unlawfully killed.”
The three majority judgments (Lords Bingham, Scott and Rodger) rejected the chief constable’s appeal that the assault claim should be stayed.
Clarke-Williams says: “They expressed a reluctance to interfere in what they felt was an arguable civil claim or to examine the claimants’ motives in pursuing it.
“By contrast, Lords Carswell and Neuberger indicated the circumstances of Ashley’s death had already been investigated thoroughly at a criminal trial and in two police inquiries. They also were concerned about the position of the police officer who had shot Ashley.”
Sherwood was prosecuted and acquitted seven years ago which, says Clarke-Williams, is a powerful factor against a further challenge in a civil court.
“Indeed, it would be close to a collateral attack on his acquittal. Lords Carswell and Neuberger also had significant case management concerns and feared that the trial of the civil battery issue could run to many weeks at considerable expense,” he adds.
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