Cowan and Another v Chief Constable for Avon [2001]

The police do not owe a duty of care to a tenant who has been unlawfully evicted, unless there has been breach of a court order.

A tenant had an assured tenancy of a room in a shared house. He received a letter from his landlord asking him to leave, but the tenant did not.
One afternoon two months later, two men went to the property and told the tenant that he had to leave by 6pm that day. They threatened to break his legs if he did not leave, so the tenant called the police. Two police officers attended, and told the tenant that he should call them again if the men returned.

At about 6pm, four men arrived and began removing the tenant’s belongings from the property. The tenant called the police, and the same two officers attended. They found several of the tenant’s possessions in the street, and neighbours congregating nearby to watch. There was an excited atmosphere, and the tenant was angry and upset.

The police called for backup as they were concerned that they were outnumbered, but said that it was not urgent. The police officers were informed by one of the men that he had recently bought the property and, via solicitors’ letters and verbal requests, had asked the tenant to leave. The police contacted the tenant’s original landlord to confirm this.