Court to rule on witness murder case
Law lords are expected to rule later today on whether a police force breached the human rights of a witness shot dead before he could give evidence at a trial.
It is suggested the verdict could affect policing and government at a national and local level.
The high court ruled in 2006 that Hertfordshire police failed to protect Giles Van Colle, 25, when he was killed in November 2000.
The 25-year-old had been due to give evidence against a former employee sacked for stealing.
Monika Carss-Frisk, representing the victim’s family, claims the police violated Mr Van Colle’s human rights by failing to “discharge the positive obligation of the police” to protect his life.
In response, the police claim the actions of his killer were impossible to predict and they did not involve human rights laws.
