Nicholas Bowen QC and David Lemer to appear in the Court of Appeal in important duty of care case

Nicholas Bowen QC is to appear in the appellate courts once again, in a case concerning the circumstances in which the police attending and mishandling a traffic emergency / RTA will owe other motorists a duty of care. Nicholas, who previously appeared in the Supreme Court in both Michael and Robinson, is instructed alongside David Lemer by Howard Kennedy LLP in the case of Tindall v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police & Anor. At first instance ([2020] EWHC 837 (QB), judgment available on Westlaw, but not yet BAILII), Master McCloud dismissed the Police’s application to strike out, holding that the Claimant’s arguments supporting a duty were not bound to fail due to the observations of Lord Reed in Poole BC v GN / CN [2019] UKSC 25.  The case raises  issues re assumption of responsibility, as well as what it means to “make matters worse”. Permission for a leapfrog appeal to the Court of Appeal was granted on 24/09/2020 by Stewart J. The case will likely be heard in mid-2021 at the earliest.