The defendant, operator of a holiday park, appealed against a finding of liability for the accident causing the claimant’s injury. The claimant, in a wheelchair, had ascended one part of the room by a ramp, but then tried to return to the lower level mistakenly believing a further ramp existed. It did not and she was injured. The claimant however had not herself given evidence. In correspondence, at a time when the defendant misunderstood the circumstances they had mistakenly asserted the existence of warning measures.
Held: The judge had allowed himself to be wrongly influenced by two misapprehensions, and his decision could not stand. On studying the photographs and ‘no one looking at that scene could possibly think that he or she was approaching a sloping ramp. In my judgment, it was quite obvious and apparent that there was a difference in level between the wooden floor of the upper level and the small seating area on the intermediate level.’
Judges:
Lord Neuberger MR, Elias LJJ, Dame Janet Smith
Citations:
[2011] EWCA Civ 753
Links:
Statutes:
Occupier’s Liability Act 1957 2
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Personal Injury, Torts – Other
Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.441393
