Ashleigh-Nicholson v Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police & Anor

An applicant who cannot attend a permission hearing should notify the court and seek an adjournment. Personal circumstances may explain the absence, but they do not excuse a failure to inform the court. Where the applicant then fails to attend a further hearing of an application to set aside the resulting order and does not seek an adjournment, the Court of Appeal may refuse the application after reconsidering the papers and remaining satisfied that its original decision was correct.

An application for permission to appeal was listed before the Court of Appeal on 23 August 2002. The applicant did not attend or contact the court, and the court dismissed the application by a reasoned judgment. The order was not to be drawn up for ten days to allow an application to set it aside.

The applicant applied within that period, explaining that he had been dealing with an eviction application concerning his home. He again failed to attend and did not seek an adjournment. The issue was whether the earlier order should be set aside.

1. Application refused. The Court of Appeal refused the application to set aside its order of 23 August 2002.
2. The court accepted that the applicant’s need to deal with proceedings requiring him to vacate his home made his priority understandable. It nevertheless held that there was no excuse for failing to inform the court of the circumstances and seek an adjournment.
3. The court would have been prepared to overlook the original non-attendance and allow oral submissions on the permission application. The applicant, however, again failed to attend the hearing of the application to set aside and had not sought an adjournment.
4. Having reread the papers, Lord Justice Aldous remained of the view reached on 23 August 2002. The order refusing permission to appeal therefore stood.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division): Application for permission to appeal was dismissed on 23 August 2002. The subsequent application to set aside that order was refused on 22 October 2002.
• Birmingham County Court: Appeal arose from proceedings before Mr Recorder Harbage. No citation for the county court decision was stated.