Mr Justice Ritchie has reminded lawyers ‘it is wholly improper to put fake cases in a pleading’, in R (Ayinde) v London Borough of Haringey [2025] EWHC 1040 (Admin).
Five fictitious case citations were discovered in the claimant’s pleadings. Ritchie J was particularly scathing about the solicitors’ description of these as ‘minor citation errors’ and ‘cosmetic errors’.
He was unable to make a finding that artificial intelligence hallucinations were to blame, but ordered the legal team, a very junior barrister from 3 Bolt Court instructed by Haringey Law Centre, be referred to their regulators and pay wasted costs.
