---
id: "2026-11-03-cps-prosecutor-imaginary-case-ai-search"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-11-03-cps-prosecutor-imaginary-case-ai-search/"
as_of: "2026-11-09T21:13:00+01:00"
date: "2026-11-03"
date_precision: day
category: policy-safety
importance: 2
confidence: medium
status: [Partly confirmed]
sources: 1
editor: human editor
human_review: null
version: "2026-11-08"
---

As of: 2026-11-09 21:13 CET.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-11-03-cps-prosecutor-imaginary-case-ai-search/

# UK: a Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor cited an imaginary case to the High Court after an AI search, 'a serious failure'

The Guardian reported on Nov 3, 2026 that a CPS prosecutor cited a non-existent case to the High Court in England after using an AI search, described as 'a serious failure'; one of a growing series of AI-hallucinated citations in courts.

## Key facts
- Written from the Guardian headline; article not readable for us (tool, judge and case unverified)

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): 187 days after its cutoff
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): 126 days after its cutoff
- Gemini 4 Argon (training cutoff March 2026): 217 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): 156 days after its cutoff

## Sources

1. [The Guardian: CPS prosecutor cites imaginary case to High Court after AI search](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/03/a-serious-failure-cps-prosecutor-cites-imaginary-case-to-high-court-after-ai-search) (theguardian.com, press)

## Changes

- 2026-11-08 (filed): Created