Cases - O'Toole v Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Record details
- Name
- O'Toole v Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Date
- [1999]; [1999]
- Citation
- Env LR D29; Times Law Reports 21 May, QBD
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Expert witness - Environmental Protection Act 1990
- Summary
-
This was an appeal about a decision that premises were not in a state 'prejudicial to health or a nuisance' under section 79(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Evidence had been excluded as to prejudice to health given by former environmental health officers acting as consultants on the grounds that, while competent on the condition of the premises, they could not give expert evidence on the occupiers' state of health.
The court accepted the appellants' submission that:
'it was not necessary for the environmental health officers to possess medical qualifications in order to express an opinion as to whether or not the premises were prejudicial to health as defined by section 79(1)(a) of the Act'.
The finding was that:
'The Environmental Health Officers possessed appropriate knowledge and expertise which the Justices did not have. By refusing to accept the evidence of those witnesses, the Justices substituted their own view on this issue which they were not entitled to do.'
The appeal was accordingly allowed.
(See Patel v Mehtab which was approved in the above case.)