Janvier v Sweeney

Janvier v Sweeney
Court	Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Decided	1919
Citation	2 KB 316

Janvier v Sweeney [1919] 2 KB 316 is a decision by the English Court of Appeal which held that the defendant was liable for illness resulting from nervous shock caused by false words and threats.^[1][2]

Facts

A private detective told a woman that he was a police detective and that she was wanted for communicating with a German spy. He did this in order to obtain certain information about her employer. The woman suffered shock and nervous illness as a result of this statement.^{[citation needed]}

Judgment

Applying the rule in Wilkinson v Downton, the court ruled that the detective was liable for the nervous shock to the plaintiff, who had an even stronger case than in Wilkinson v Downton, since there was a clear intention to frighten the victim in order to unlawfully obtain information.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Wilkinson v Downton
• Nervous shock (English Law)

References

1. "False Statements: Resulting Nervous Shock: Liability for". Michigan Law Review. 18 (4): 332–334. February 1920. JSTOR 1277746.
2. Trindade, F. A. (1986). "The Intentional Infliction of Purely Mental Distress". Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 6 (2): 219–231. JSTOR 764204.