Elias v Pasmore

Facts

Police officers entered the offices of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, arrested a man, and took away documents. Some of the documents were not covered by any power of seizure. The occupiers sued in trespass. The documents had been used in a criminal prosecution.

Issue

Does an unlawful seizure make the documents unusable, and is the seizure itself a trespass for everything that was taken?

Held

Horridge J held that the officers were trespassers as to the documents they had no right to take. He also said that the interests of the State excuse the seizure of documents, otherwise unlawful, which are evidence of a crime for which a man is then charged. Those documents were not to be excluded.

Principle

Illegality in obtaining a document is not, by itself, a reason to keep relevant evidence out of a criminal trial.

Why it matters

Read it beside Leathem and Callis v Gunn. The civil claim for trespass can succeed. The criminal trial still hears the evidence.

For study only. By lanbuk.com. Always check current sources and consult a qualified professional.