Damian Warburton v The Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary
[2023] EWCA Civ 209
Lee McLoughlin v Chief Constable Of Kent Police
1 May 2024
[2024] EWHC 990 (KB)
High Court
A man was convicted of having indecent images. He then sued the police, saying a statement they made about him using Facebook while downloading the images was inaccurate. The court said he was trying to challenge his conviction again, which is not allowed, so his lawsuit was dismissed.
Key Facts
- •Lee McLoughlin pleaded guilty in 2016 to possessing indecent images of children.
- •A police witness statement contained allegedly inaccurate personal data regarding McLoughlin's Facebook use.
- •McLoughlin brought a claim under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
- •The lower court dismissed the application to strike out the claim.
- •The Chief Constable of Kent Police appealed.
- •McLoughlin attempted to discontinue part of his claim during the appeal.
- •The disputed statement linked McLoughlin's Facebook activity to times when he downloaded indecent images.
Legal Principles
Abuse of process – re-litigation of issues already determined in criminal proceedings or judicial review.
Johnson v. Gore Wood & Co [2002] AC 1; Mueen-Uddin v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1703; Hunter v. Chief Constable of West Midlands Police [1982] AC 529; Allsop v. Banner Jones Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 7
Abuse of process – ‘the game is not worth the candle’ (de minimis doctrine).
Jameel v. Dow Jones & Co Inc [2005] EWCA Civ 75; Higinbotham v Teekhungam [2018] EWHC 1880 (QB)
Accuracy of personal data under DPA 2018 – whether data is ‘incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact’.
DPA 2018, section 205(1)
Witness immunity and its application to data protection claims.
Darker v. Chief Constable of West Midlands Police [2001] 1 AC 435
Outcomes
Appeal allowed.
The claim was an abuse of process as it constituted a re-litigation of issues already considered in the criminal proceedings and subsequent judicial review. The court rejected the argument that the claim was justified based on the alleged inaccuracy of a specific part of the police statement.
Similar Cases
Veronica Strain, R (on the application of) v The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police
[2023] EWCA Civ 240
O, R (on the application of) v Chief Constable of Kent Police
[2024] EWHC 1678 (Admin)
Solomon Browne v The Information Commissioner
[2024] UKFTT 428 (GRC)
Tianli Cui v Information Commissioner
[2024] UKFTT 1047 (GRC)