An inmate of a house to which access was obtained by a common stair brought an action against a lighting authority for damages for personal injuries sustained by her in falling on the stair. She averred that on returning home at a time when the stair ought to have been lighted she found it unlighted, that she proceeded to mount the stair, which had no handrail, in the dark with the greatest caution, and that at a turn in it she strayed on to the narrow part of the steps, came against the stair wall, slipped and fell down the stair, sustaining injuries. She averred further that the accident was due to the negligence of the defenders in failing to light the stair. The First Division dismissed the action as irrelevant on the ground that the pursuer’s averments disclosed a case of contributory negligence. Held ( rev. judgment of the First Division) that while those averments might be evidence of contributory negligence which a judge or jury would be entitled to weigh, they did not per se establish a case of contributory negligence, and case remitted to the Court of Session with a direction to order issues.
Lord Buckmaster, Lord Finlay. Lord Dunedin, Lord Atkinson, and Lord Shaw
[1919] UKHL 141, 56 SLR 141
Bailii
Scotland
Personal Injury, Negligence
Updated: 04 January 2022; Ref: scu.632764