No duty on hotel to prevent adult falling from window


This case dealt with the duty owed under the Occupiers’ Liability 1957, section 2 to a hotel visitor who had fallen from a second floor bedroom window after leaning out.

It was held the window was no obvious source of danger to an adult and no accident had ever occurred before this one. The Court of Appeal said it followed that it was not reasonably foreseeable that an adult would lean out of the window in such a way as to suggest that the occupier should have restricted the way in which the window opened.

Lewis -v- Six Continents PLC, CA, Civ Div, [2005] All ER (D) 170 Dec

Thompsons Cases

 

Football case: press go over the top about tackle claim

 


In this case we successfully represented an amateur footballer who was the victim of a negligent tackle by another footballer. Our success was reported in the Daily Mirror, on Midlands Tonight and the front page of Non League Football with some quotes and headlines suggesting this had implications that would affect all football.

 

In fact it was held there was a breach of duty of care from one footballer to another in what at least one witness said was one of the worst tackles he had ever seen. These cases remain rare and difficult to win.

The claimant, who was 21 at the time of the incident, suffered a broken tibia and fibula and significant scarring as a result of a tackle by the defendant.

There was a conflict of evidence about the nature and circumstances of the tackle: the claimant’s evidence was that he ran in and cleared the ball and saw the defendant’s tackle coming and that it was a studs-up, two-footed tackle. This is classified as a dangerous tackle in the rules of football.


His two witnesses, one of whom had refereeing experience, stated that it was one of the worst tackles that they had seen in a football game.

 

The defendant said that he sought to make a sliding pass by sending the ball to the right midfielder but the claimant came in and collided with him. He also said that no one had a go at him after the game and he was not sent off. The Judge found this was because the game was stopped and all of the players were more concerned about the claimant than having a go at the defendant. The defendant accepted in evidence that a two-footed, studs-up tackle is dangerous.

The Judge accepted all of the claimant’s evidence and also that of his witnesses. The Judge found that: “what started as a legitimate attempt to regain the ball turned into a dangerous tackle.” He found that the defendant had sufficient control over himself to have tried to steer away from the tackle and also lower his legs but that he failed to do so. He found that the claimant was struck in the air by one or two feet with the studs showing upwards. The tackle was therefore negligent and the claimant won. He was awarded £8,000 for his injuries.

Matthew Rollason -v- Mr S Matthews