October 5, 2025
Wainwright v Home Office [2003] UKHL 53
A mother and son, improperly strip-searched during a prison visit, suffered psychiatric injury. The House of Lords rejected their claim for invasion of privacy, stating no such general tort existed in English law, and clarified the tort of intentional infliction of harm. Facts In December 1996, Mrs Carol Wainwright and her son Alan Wainwright visited Armley Prison in Leeds to see another son, Patrick, who was on remand. Alan Wainwright had cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. On suspicion that they were trafficking drugs, prison officers required them to undergo a strip-search. The searches were conducted in a manner that failed
