Lord Chancellor to pay damages for arrest and detention of learning-disabled man
The Lord Chancellor has agreed to pay damages in respect of judicial decisions which led to the arrest and detention of a learning-disabled young man, “MTA”. The settlement, which was recently approved by the High Court (6 May 2026), is believed to be one of the first of its kind.
MTA is a young man with severe global developmental delay and enduring mental health difficulties. His mother’s landlord brought a claim for an injunction against him under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Doubts were raised about MTA’s mental capacity, but the court nonetheless made and maintained an interim injunction with a power of arrest. Ultimately, MTA was found to lack capacity to conduct the proceedings or to comply with the injunction and the injunction claim was dismissed. However, by this stage MTA had already been arrested and detained on 3 occasions under the power of arrest attached to the interim injunction.
MTA (by the Official Solicitor as his litigation friend) issued a claim for damages (1) against the police for false imprisonment and/or breach of Article 5 ECHR, on the basis that, due to his lack of capacity, the interim injunction and power of arrest were of no effect (r.21.3(4)) and so could not provide lawful justification for his detention and (2) against the Lord Chancellor under section 9 HRA 1998, on the basis that, if the interim power of arrest was valid, the county court’s decisions to grant and maintain it (and to remand him in custody following one of the arrests), despite the doubts as to his capacity, constituted a breach of his right to liberty under Article 5 and/or right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Lord Chancellor applied to strike out MTA’s claim against him as an abuse of process, that application being dismissed by the High Court (see report here) and Court of Appeal (see report here).
Subsequently, the Lord Chancellor agreed to pay damages to MTA and pay his costs of the proceedings (including the costs of his claim against the police) and that settlement has now been approved by the Court.
Although the settlement did not include an admission of liability by the Lord Chancellor, it serves to underscore the risks involved in judges granting or continuing powers of arrest against parties at a time when their capacity to engage in the proceedings is in doubt — an issue specifically highlighted by the Civil Justice Council in its 2020 report on ‘Antisocial Behaviour and the Civil Courts’. At the approval hearing, Senior Master Cook commented: “This is a particularly sad case and one, I hope, the system generally has learned from”.
Martin Westgate KC and Daniel Clarke represented MTA, instructed by Katie Brown of TV Edwards LLP.
