King's / Queen's Bench Division of the High Court
QB-2018-004997 - [2025] EWHC 2301 (KB)
Fecha: 09-Sep-2025
Heading

Neutral Citation Number: [2025] EWHC 2301 (KB)
Case No: QB-2018-004997
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING’S BENCH DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Date: 9/9/2025
Before :
CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY KC
SITTING AS A DEPUTY HIGH COURT JUDGE
Between :
MS DEBBIE O’CONNELL | Claimant |
- and - | |
THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE | Defendant |
Mr Nigel Lewers and Ms Cressida Mawdesley-Thomas (instructed by Austen Jones solicitors) for the Claimant
Mr Niazi Fetto KC and Ms Emma-Louise Fenelon (instructed by Keoghs LLP) for the Defendant
Hearing dates: 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th,14th, 15th 16th and 17th July 2025
Approved Judgment
This judgment was handed down by release to The National Archives on 9 September 2025 at 10.30am.
- Heading
- Christopher Kennedy KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)
- Liability
- The circumstances of the accident
- Breach of duty
- The Animals Act 1971
- Fundamental dishonesty
- The evidence relating to the allegations of fundamental dishonesty
- Responsibility for the horses
- Evidence relating to the Claimant’s car
- Other material inconsistencies
- CPR 44.16
- “Dishonesty”
- “Fundamental Dishonesty”
- The cases advanced by the parties
- Findings on fundamental dishonesty
- The video surveillance
- Horses
- The car
- Conclusions