“Police owe duty to prevent suicide; contributory negligence applies despite breach enabling harm.”
Martin Lynch, who had a history of mental illness and suicide attempts, was detained in police custody. Despite being assessed as a suicide risk, he was left alone in his cell and subsequently hanged himself using his shirt. His widow sued the police for negligence.
Whether the police owed a duty of care to prevent suicide by a detainee known to be at risk, and whether contributory negligence could apply where the deceased's own act caused his death.
The House of Lords held that the police owed a duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent suicide by those in their custody known to be at risk. However, damages were reduced by 50% for contributory negligence despite the suicide being the very act the police should have prevented.
This case significantly expanded the duty of care owed by public authorities and clarified the application of contributory negligence in cases involving deliberate self-harm. It has important implications for negligence law and public authority liability, particularly in custody and care situations.
You're reading the free summary of Reeves v Commissioner of Police. Create a free account to unlock the full reasoning, the cited authorities and the verbatim judgment — plus structured briefs for 412,000+ UK judgments.
No card required. Free forever.
OSCOLA Citation
Reeves v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2000] 1 AC 360
Multiple official and mirror sources — pick whichever loads cleanly on your network.
Falls back to Google for old citations BAILII catalogues separately
Common Room
0 comments · About the Common Room →
No comments yet — start the discussion.
Voted-best comments help future students and feed Caselaw's AI study tools.