Facts: M and her mother both had a history of mental disorder and M had a life-threatening form of anorexia. Her mother applied to discharge her from detention for assessment under section 2 of the MHA 1983. The hospital blocked the discharge under section 25 of the MHA 1983, applied to displace the mother under section 29, secured interim displacement orders and then detained M under section 3 of the MHA 1983 before the final hearing of the section 29 proceedings.

Judgment: the Court of Appeal (Hallet and Buxton LJJ, Sir Peter Gibson) held that whilst it might be desirable for section 29 proceedings to be concluded before an application is made under section 3 there was no legal requirement to that effect or anything implicit in the legislation that required there to be exceptional circumstances if that course was not taken, nor was the procedure adopted incompatible with the ECHR: M’s detention had not been arbitrary but on proper grounds and subject to review.