OKU -v- Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police (anonymity order)
Claim No. SC-2024-APP-000580
In the Senior Courts Costs Office
3 December 2025
Before:
Costs Judge Nagalingam
Between:
OKU
-v-
Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police
Order
BEFORE Costs Judge Nagalingam sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice on 21 October 2025
UPON hearing Counsel for the Claimant, Mr S Clark, and Counsel for the Defendant, Mr C Ralph
AND UPON consideration of the documents
AND UPON consideration of the Claimant’s entitlement to anonymity under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992
AND UPON IT APPEARING that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant is necessary in order to secure the proper administration of justice and protect the interests of the Claimant and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure
AND UPON IT APPEARING that there has been no extant reporting of these proceedings, attendance at the press at the hearing or any identifiable material in the public domain which identifies or could identify the Claimant
AND PURSUANT to rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules and section II of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and rules 5.4C and 5.4D of the Civil Procedure Rules.
WHEREAS for the purposes of this order:
- ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.
- Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (1) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:- - The identity of the Claimant is confidential and shall not be published.
- In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:
a. The Claimant shall be described as “OKU”.
b. Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the Claimant (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication. - Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or address of the Claimant or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of her in these proceedings. The Claimant shall be referred to as set out at paragraph 2 of this Order.
- Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
a. A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the Court records unless the statement of case, judgment or order has been anonymised in accordance with subparagraphs 2(a) to (b) above.
b. If a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies (pursuant to CPR r.5.4C(1B) or (2)) for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such application shall be on at least 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitor. - Further to paragraph 4, the parties shall provide anonymised versions of the existing skeleton arguments which may be provided to a non-party on request within 21 days of the date of this order. All future submissions and documents shall comply with the requirements of paragraph 2.
- The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 3 December 2025 and any application by a non-party to inspect or obtain a copy document from this file must be dealt with in accordance with the terms of that Order.”
- Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this Order, provided that any such application is made on 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitor.
- Pursuant to the ‘Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders’ issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this Order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.judiciary.uk). For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk
- There shall be no order as to costs in respect of making this order.