Delster
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2007
- Messages
- 2,231
I was just watching the BBC and this tragic story was broadcast: Police defend drowning death case
There''s an ongoing debate in another thread (here) about a doctor''s liability where that doctor''s ACTION results in a life being CREATED. In this case, a community police officer''s INACTION has resulted in a life being LOST.
LEGALLY the area is grey. The police force in question insist the omission to act was proper as the officers were not trained to deal with the situation. Is this wrong as a point of principle? Legally there is no obligation in the UK on a person to take action to save another person unless there is a parent-child relationship, or a similar duty of care (doctor-patient), or a contractual obligation (say like a childminder). Omissions are not criminalised. Yet surely a police officer, just like a doctor, must owe a legal duty to this child to assist and to protect him? Surely the police force are wrong about this?
MORALLY there is no question here for me, I don''t understand how anyone could stand by and watch a child drown without taking action. The child who drowned was in fact in the water saving his younger sister from drowning.
I am so sorry for his family, what an awful awful thing to happen.
There''s an ongoing debate in another thread (here) about a doctor''s liability where that doctor''s ACTION results in a life being CREATED. In this case, a community police officer''s INACTION has resulted in a life being LOST.
LEGALLY the area is grey. The police force in question insist the omission to act was proper as the officers were not trained to deal with the situation. Is this wrong as a point of principle? Legally there is no obligation in the UK on a person to take action to save another person unless there is a parent-child relationship, or a similar duty of care (doctor-patient), or a contractual obligation (say like a childminder). Omissions are not criminalised. Yet surely a police officer, just like a doctor, must owe a legal duty to this child to assist and to protect him? Surely the police force are wrong about this?
MORALLY there is no question here for me, I don''t understand how anyone could stand by and watch a child drown without taking action. The child who drowned was in fact in the water saving his younger sister from drowning.
I am so sorry for his family, what an awful awful thing to happen.