Anonymity of defendants in personal injury proceedings

In the case of Adebolajo v Ministry of Justice and another QBD (Langstaff J) 31/10/2017, the High Court considered whether prison officers who were defendants in a personal injury action brought against them and the Ministry of Justice by an Islamist extremist who has been convicted of killing Fusilier Lee Rigby. The court took the unusual step of granting the defendant officers anonymity under common law, and ordered that they give their evidence from behind a screen. Although the evidence of harm to the officers lacked objective verification of real and immediate danger, their fears were justified, and they were suffering from stress which subjected them to unnecessary unfairness.