1960legal-casemixed
Phillips v. de la Warr (High Court fraud suit)
The Delawarr diagnostic instrument and the de la Warrs' good faith in selling it
High Court of Justice, London, Catherine Phillips (plaintiff), George de la Warr (defendant) · London, UK
Method
Civil fraud action by a former customer claiming the purchased diagnostic instrument was worthless; ten days of evidence on whether the device worked and whether the de la Warrs believed in it.
Findings
- Judgment went to de la Warr: fraud required proving he did not believe in his instrument, which the plaintiff could not do; the court made no finding that the box worked.
- During the trial de la Warr narrowed the device's claims to 'pre-physical' conditions; the win left the laboratory financially damaged since costs could not be recovered.
Conclusion
A proponent court victory that nonetheless established nothing about efficacy — the verdict turned on sincerity, not function.
The proponent response
The British radionics community cites the verdict as vindication of good faith; the 1962 Delawarr manual in this corpus post-dates the trial and reflects the more careful 'predisposing causes, not medical diagnosis' framing.