DALLISON
V.
CAFFERY

LORD DENNING M.R. (reading the lead judgment)

On Thursday, April 9, 1959, a sum of £173 was stolen from a solicitor’s office in Dunstable. A man named Dallison was arrested and charged with the offence. On Monday, May 11, 1959, at quarter sessions, counsel for the prosecution offered no evidence against Dallison. It was a case, he said, of mistaken identity. Accordingly Dallison was found not guilty and was discharged. The police officer in charge of the case was Detective Constable Caffery [the defendant]. Dallison now sues Detective Constable Caffery for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The judge dismissed the claim. On the issue of false imprisonment the judge ruled that Detective Constable Caffery had reasonable cause to suspect that Dallison had committed the crime and was therefore justified in arresting him. On the issue of malicious prosecution, the judge ruled that there was not a want of reasonable and probable cause for the prosecution: and the action therefore …