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27 June 2013 / Karen O’Sullivan
Issue: 7566 / Categories: Features , LexisPSL , Personal injury , Criminal
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Snakes & ladders

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Joyce hits home that crime doesn’t pay, notes Karen O’Sullivan

The press would have us believe that criminals can do what they like and then merrily sue all and sundry for the unfortunate consequences of those actions. Sadly for tabloid journalists this is simply not true as the Court of Appeal recently remind us in Joyce v O’Brien [2012] EWHC 1324 (QB), [2012] All ER (D) 202 (May). The case is a useful reminder of the rule often shortened to “ex turpi”, namely that the court will not allow a party to profit from a loss arising from that party’s own criminal or immoral activity.

In Joyce the claimant and his uncle stole some ladders from a householder. The pair made a hasty retreat, but the ladders were too long for their van and they did not have time to secure them properly. Consequently the ad hoc system, with foreseeable consequences, was that the claimant rode on the van’s rear footplate, holding the ladders in while with his other hand holding

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