In the recent decision in Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex Police [2008] UKHL 50, the claimant suffered severe injuries during an attack by his former boyfriend. The claimant had informed the police of a series of violent and threatening telephone, internet and text messages, including death threats. The police treated it as a domestic matter and declined to look at the messages or to take any steps to protect the claimant. His case was struck out by the House of Lords, holding that the policy reasoning outlined in Hill applied. Note Lord Bingham’s dissenting opinion and ‘liability principle’.