FOI 1028-2024/25 Claudia Lawrence Investigation

Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide information regarding the following matter : the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence from her home at 46 Heworth Rd, York, in March 2009.

Q1. I request a copy of the initial police report concerning the search/examination of her home in March 2009, and all observations noted by the officers. 

Q2. Information obtained by the police from the local repair garage where Claudia Lawrence's car had been taken for repairs, including the date on which the car had been received by the garage. 

Decision
Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information requested pursuant to Section 30(1)(a) – Investigations and Section 40(2) – Personal information.

Explanation of exemptions

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Please see the exemption explanations below.

Section 30 is a qualified, class-based exemption, which requires that I conduct a public interest test to balance the legitimate interests of the public in knowing the information against the interests of non-disclosure.

Public Interest Test - S30
Reasons for Disclosure
The public have an interest in understanding how the police investigate crimes and they may also have information relating to the case matter.

Reasons against Disclosure
There are times when releasing data is necessary for the investigation and only when those circumstances arise will any publication be presented.

Disclosure of police reports could hinder the investigation and any individuals/offenders could potentially take further measures to avoid detection if details are released into the public domain.

Balancing Test
After considering the reasons for and against disclosure, it is my opinion that the reasons for non-disclosure outweigh the reasons for disclosure.

Section 40 – Personal Information
I am exempting providing you with the police reports pursuant to Section 40(2) Freedom of Information Act (the Act).  This is because any disclosure under FOI is a release to the public at large.

Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.

Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. 

Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.