The Court dismissed the plaintiff's personal injury claim arising from an alleged sexual assault in custody, holding that the plaintiff failed to provide a full and satisfactory explanation for non-compliance with the s 26BA notice requirement and that the notice given nearly five years after the incident was not given within a reasonable period. The Court also held that the cause of action was discoverable by May 2022 at the latest (when the first psychiatric report was obtained), making the September 2025 proceedings out of time under s 50C of the Limitation Act 1969. The Court found that the re-filing of substantially identical proceedings after dismissal for non-compliance with s 26BA, followed by belated notice and a fresh statement of claim, did not constitute an abuse of process because the factual matrix had changed, but this did not save the claim from dismissal on the notice and limitation grounds.
The full text is available to signed-in members.