Malicious procurement of search warrant

Keegan v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA TLR 17 July

The core ingredients of the tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant are: (i) a successful application for a search warrant, (ii) lack of reasonable and probable cause to make the application, (iii) malice, and (iv) resultant damage arising from the issue or execution of the warrant. It is necessary for the claimant to prove not only that the police had no reasonable or probable cause to seek the warrant, but also that they had an improper motive for obtaining the warrant. It is not enough, as with the tort of malicious prosecution, to prove an absence of reasonable and probable cause to seek a warrant.