Court of Appeal quashes PSNI decision on SPED

A mother and daughter, who had been intimidated from their home, will now be able to sell their property under the SPED scheme thanks to a Court of Appeal decision made last week.

The Scheme for the Emergency Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings (SPED) scheme is run by NIHE.  Under the scheme, the Housing Executive can purchase the homes of homeowners who have been intimidated as long as intimidation and an associated risk of death or serious injury are confirmed in a certificate from the Chief Constable.

History of intimidation

The Cooley family lived in an interface area in Belfast.  The family had been threatened and the property attacked on a number of occasions from 2001 onwards.  Ms A Cooley applied to the SPED scheme in August 2010.  Her application was rejected as the Chief Constable found that she was not at risk of serious injury or death as a result of being directly or specifically threatened.

In March 2011 the family found a bullet on the hall floor.  In April both Ms A Cooley and her mother made fresh applications to the SPED scheme.  Again, the Chief Constable felt that the circumstances for issuing a certificate had not been met.  Ms Cooley and her mother asked that these decisions be reconsidered by the Assistant Chief Constable who affirmed the decision not to issue a certificate in either case. The Housing Executive awarded intimidation points to the family in June 2011 and the family was permanently rehoused. 

Legal action to challenge the decision

The family applied for a Judicial Review of the decision not to issue a certificate.  This action was dismissed by the court who felt that the PSNI had considered all relevant factors when making its decision.

The family challenged this decision in the Court of Appeal.  They argued that the finding of the bullet should be viewed as a direct and specific threat of serious injury or death to Ms A Cooley.  They also argued that the Assistant Chief Constable should have considered whether additional medical evidence needed to be requested from the applicants before a decision could be made.

Court of Appeal decision

The Court of Appeal overturned the Judicial Review ruling.  The Lord Chief Justice, Mr Declan Morgan, felt that the finding of the bullet showed “a specific threat directed to the persons residing at that address, threatening to kill them”.  He felt that this threat was of a different character to threats arising because of the property’s location on an interface area and that the Assistance Chief Constable did not analyse the additional risk or threat posed by the finding of the bullet.

A summary of the judgment is available on the Court Service's website