Griffiths v Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust & Anor

Angus Moon QC and Liam Duffy secure the dismissal of claims against an NHS Trust by the family of Mary Griffiths. Members of the family of Mary Griffiths, who was killed by John McFarlane using a farm bolt gun in May 2009, brought human rights and negligence claims against the Trust for failing to admit John McFarlane to hospital prior to the murder.

Angus and Liam represented the Trust. The family also made claims against the police. In a lengthy written judgment handed down on 10th October 2018 the Court agreed that there were no grounds to detain John McFarlane and no evidence of any risk to Mary Griffiths of which the Trust ought to have been aware. The claims against the police also failed.

The BBC report of the judgment can be found here.

In the widely publicised case brought by Dr Chris Day for whistleblowing against Health Education England and a health Trust, Dr Day agreed today that his claims should be dismissed after 6 days of evidence in the Employment Tribunal. Angus represented Health Education England.

Dr Day agreed that his claims should be dismissed on the basis that both he and HEE had acted in good faith. The case had been listed for 20 days. The parties’ agreed Position Statement can be found here.

In a novel case, the Court of Protection has endorsed the human administration of a potential treatment for sporadic CJD, before the product has undergone any clinical trials.

Bridget Dolan QC, instructed by the Official Solicitor, represented the incapacitous patient at the centre of this case. He is now to be the first human recipient of PRN100, a monoclonal antibody that has shown some promise in combatting this dreadful disease in earlier animal studies.

BBC News coverage here.

Anthony Haycroft represented a General Practitioner accused of a single count of sexual assault on a patient in his consulting room in Kent. He was tried at Lewes Crown Court. The doctor gave evidence and the jury acquitted him of the charge after considering detailed forensic scientific evidence.

Anthony Haycroft was instructed by Will Childs and Bridget Miles of Radcliffe-LeBrasseur London for Dr Myooran Nathan of the MDDUS.

The Chief Coroner, HHJ Mark Lucraft QC, is holding the Inquests into the deaths of the four victims of the Westminster Bridge attack and the Police Officer killed within the Palace of Westminster in March 2017.

Sebastian Naughton of Serjeants’ Inn Chambers is representing one of the NHS Trusts who provided care to victims of the attack.  The inquest transcripts are publicly available here .

For press coverage, please click here and here.

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Alexander dos Santos at Serjeants’​ Inn Chambers. Boosting our Business and Specialist Crime Team in particular, Alexander practises in regulatory and financial matters, both criminal and civil, professional discipline, extradition, inquests and public and commercial law. Alexander is a Specialist Regulatory Advocate and a CPS Specialist Prosecutor. He is also a legal adviser to AFC Wimbledon football club and is appointed to the League Managers Association Legal Panel.

Click here to see further details of Alex’s practice.

We are proud to welcome Nageena Khalique QC, who joins the set from her previous position as deputy Head of Chambers and leader of the Court of Protection; Inquest and Inquiries; and Public and Administrative Law teams at No 5 Chambers.

Nageena is the fourth new arrival from a key competitor set and the third silk to join Serjeants’ Inn this year. Her expertise covers a wide range of medical and public law, including health, inquests, social care and education, clinical negligence and regulatory law.

She is currently acting for a trust in a Court of Appeal case concerning equality duties and Articles 3 and 8 in prison healthcare and she is instructed in the Lambeth Council Redress Scheme for children in care relating to historic abuse whilst under the auspices of local authority social services. She is also on the team which represents families of the victims of the Birmingham Pub Bombings.

An expert in Court of Protection work – both Health & Welfare and Property & Affairs – Nageena is at the forefront of developments in mental health and capacity law, advancing Serjeants’ Inn’s ability to serve its clients in these cases, which range from hospital Trusts and the Official Solicitor to infant patients and high-net-worth individuals.

Joint CEO of Serjeants’ Inn, Catherine Calder comments, “Nageena’s arrival crystallises the progress we have made over the last three years – numbers have increased by 35% with a gain of 11 silks. The set has won 23 awards in the same period and was one of the first chambers to be recognised by the Bar Council for its excellence on well-being. Most importantly it continues to attract the key briefs in crucial cases, such as Alfie Evans, the Deepcut inquests, and last week’s Supreme Court end of life treatment case”.

A full profile for Nageena will be available shortly.

Michael Mylonas QC, Sophia Roper and Claire Watson in ground-breaking case in which a dying man’s wife was permitted by the Court to have his sperm retrieved, stored and used without his express written consent, under a Mental Capacity Act application: Michael was instructed  for the Applicant by Vardags, Claire by the hospital and Sophia by the Official Solicitor.

Click here to see press coverage on the case, and here for our recent blog post on the UK Medical Decision Law Blog.