Law Bulletin - June 2005

Duty of care of general labourer [Liability]

The claimant, James, asked his neighbour, Butler, a general labourer, to help put up a conservatory. He paid him for his help. Butler tightened a screw of a piece of the structure with his finger so as to secure it temporarily while he went to get a screwdriver. In the meantime the part of the structure fell and struck James in the eye.

Heart attack through stress [Liability]

A brewing company sent a publican to manage a pub in a rough area to increase its profit. He worked very long hours and 18 months later suffered a heart attack.

Police: unlawful imprisonment [Liability]

To hold lawful demonstrators in a cordon for hours was breach of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 Art 5(1) and was false imprisonment.

We’re jamming [Liability]

Middlesborough office won a trial on the issue of an absence of a proper risk assessment for procedures to deal with the inevitable occurrence of jams of cardboard boxes in machines where the claimant injured his hand retrieving some jammed cardboard.

Court of Appeal VWF cases should settle but not fight [Damages]

In a VWF case the defendants appealed against an award of damages of £13,520, where the claimant had been employed by the defendants between 1970 and 1998 using vibrating tools.

Judge wrong to reject evidence on damages [Damages]

The claimant suffered a whiplash-type soft tissue injury to his neck and shoulders in a road traffic accident.

Proof of “non-organic” pain now available [Damages]

Technology moves on, and can now extend to question about whether a claimant’s pain is real or fake.