Catherine Shackleton

Catherine joined Weightmans’ national police team in February 2022 as a Principal Associate based in the Liverpool and Manchester offices.

Catherine has over 17 years’ experience of defending civil claims, predominantly those brought against the police.  She was a solicitor in Weightmans’ Manchester police and motor teams from 2007 until December 2010 when she joined Greater Manchester Police as an in-house solicitor. 

From 2012 to early 2022, Catherine ran GMP’s Civil Litigation Unit. In this role, she dealt with many of GMP’s most high value, high risk and complex civil claims arising out of all areas of Force business.

These included claims for damages for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, battery, misfeasance in public office, claims arising out of data breaches and for defamation, claims brought under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998 including claims arising from deaths in police contact and investigations into historic abuse and claims brought in negligence for injuries sustained by police officers and staff at work including work-related stress.

Catherine dealt with the defence of multi-claimant actions, claims with a pleaded value in excess of £1 million and claims with national implications for policing. She provided Force-wide advice to police staff and officers of all ranks, including in Gold groups, on matters of strategy, organisational risk, mitigation of loss and damage and organisational learning.