Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2002] All ER (D) 379 (May)
Neutral Citation: [2002] EWHC 1049 (Admin)
Court: Divisional Court
Judge:

Kennedy LJ and Hallett J
Representation Graeme Wilson (instructed by Paytons) for the claimant.
  David Perry (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Judgment Dates: 24 May 2002

Catchwords

Prosecution - Crown Prosecution Service - Refusal to prosecute - Death of claimant's son in Spain - Deceased left in car by friend whilst unconscious through excess alcohol - Deceased found dead in car some hours later - Crown Prosecution Service deciding not to prosecute friend - Whether Crown Prosecution Service in error.

The Case

The Crown Prosecution Service had been entitled to decide not to prosecute the friend of the deceased who had left the deceased, who was comatose through drink, in a car in Spain. The idea that the deceased might suffer significant injury, as opposed to discomfort, as a result of being overheated in the car would be unlikely to cross the mind of anyone not medically trained and therefore there was no realistic possibility of the prosecution demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that a reasonable person in the position of the friend would have foreseen the risk of death.

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