Sadie Seabrook

Full Profile

Sadie is a highly regarded Legal Director and has specialised in defending civil actions against the police and other emergency services for over 20 years. She has particular expertise in defending complex public liability claims involving assault, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, breach of confidence and Human Rights Act claims. She also has expertise in claims pursued under the Data Protection Act.

Sadie has been consistently ranked in Chambers & Partners for the last 5 years : "She has an impressive command of cases and is always excellently prepared."

Sadie’s training and experience as a barrister gives her a significant advantage when defending cases through to trial.  Her procedural knowledge alongside her tactical astuteness means that her success rate at trial is second to none. She is regularly praised by her police clients for her considerable ability in ensuring that police officers are properly supported and guided through the trial process and ultimately achieves repeated success.

Sadie is known for her ability to quickly get to the issues of a case and has a formidable reputation in successfully defending both EL and PL claims brought against the police. She also has an outstanding track record in securing strike outs and summary judgments. Sadie is highly regarded for her negotiation skills and is an excellent tactical negotiator, frequently securing settlement significantly below value.

Sadie also has an excellent reputation for defending high value physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, work-place bullying and Equality Act claims. Sadie's cases frequently involve children, the elderly and the vulnerable and she is well versed in handling claims involving multiple claimants.

Experience

• Acted for a Chief Constable in claims brought by three senior police officers for personal injury and associated losses arising from the alleged negligent mishandling of a fellow officers allegations of racial discrimination, harassment and bullying and his subsequent employment tribunal claim. The claims had a value in excess of £500,000. Sadie successfully secured a strike out of all three claims as a consequence of a failure to serve proceedings in accordance with the CPR.
• Part of the team advising the Manchester Arena and their insurer in intimated civil claims arising from the Arena bombing in 2017.
• Secured the discontinuance of claims brought by the estate of a young lady and her mother for breaches of their Article 2 and 8 human rights as well as claims in negligence. The defendants' officers had come into contact with the deceased less than 24 hours before she went onto commit suicide.  The claims were evidentially complex and further clouded by the fact that the coroner at the inquest had been critical of the police.
• Sadie is part of the team currently instructed on behalf of 22 individual officers and their respective police forces to represent their interests in the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry.
• Successfully defended a 2 week jury trial in a high value claim brought against the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis for unlawful arrest, assault and battery, malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office and personal injury.  The trial judge granted the police permission to introduce the facts of the claimant’s previous convictions and those of the two men with whom he was travelling at the time of his arrest into evidence, on the basis of their relevance and similar fact. The trial judge rejected the claimant’s submissions that the defendant’s costs should be reduced due to an alleged failure to engage in ADR. The judge found that the defendant’s offer to discuss settlement, which did not involve financial compensation, was a genuine attempt to engage. He held that as the claimant’s case was based entirely upon his assertion that the arresting officers had fabricated their accounts from beginning to end the Commissioner was entitled to reject the monetary offers to settle and to choose to defend his officers at trial given the serious nature of the allegations and the adverse professional consequences for those officers.
• Successfully defended three cases to trial in 2022 on behalf of the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police. Cases involved allegations of unlawful arrest on the basis that the arrests necessary and/or there were no reasonable grounds to suspect, excessive force and assault and battery.
• successfully defended a one week trial jury on behalf of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. The jury were discharged at the conclusion of the evidence following legal submissions that there were no relevant questions of fact open for the jury to answer with the judge then finding for the Commissioner on all causes of action.