Links: Home | swarblaw - law discussions

swarb.co.uk - law index


These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.  














Damages - From: 1993 To: 1993

This page lists 40 cases, and was prepared on 27 May 2018.

 
Allen v Bloomsbury Health Authority [1993] 1 All ER 651; [1992] 3 Med LR 257; (1992) 13 BMLR 47
1993

Brooke J
Negligence, Damages
The plaintiff sought damages after a failed sterilisation. She had been apprehensive during the pregnancy that the child might be handicapped, and in the event the child suffered from temper tantrums, a speech defect and slight dyslexia. Held: Damages of £2500 was awarded in respect of pain, suffering and loss of amenities, of which general damages for pain suffering and loss of amenities up to the birth were £1250. Nothing was awarded in respect of the fact that the child had these disabilities. £2500 was awarded because it was the sum which the defendants conceded was proper. The court should award all such expenses as might reasonably be incurred for the education and upkeep of the unplanned child, having regard to the condition in life of the child and the reasonable requirements of the child. That would include expensive schools if that was how the child's siblings had been educated, even though this might result in "a very substantial claim".
1 Citers


 
AB v South West Water Services Ltd [1993] QB 507; [1993] 1 All ER 609
1993
CA
Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Stuart-Smith LJ
Nuisance, Damages
Exemplary and aggravated damages were claimed in an action for nuisance arising out of the contamination of water by the defendant utility. Held: Sir Thomas Bingham MR said: "A defendant accused of crime may ordinarily be ordered (if convicted) to pay a financial penalty. In such a case he will enjoy the constitutional safeguards afforded to defendants in criminal cases, which may include trial by jury, and the sum he is ordered to pay is received by the state, not (even in the case of a private prosecution) by the prosecutor. In a civil case, arising out of a civil wrong (whether or not it is also a crime), the defendant may be ordered to pay damages. In the ordinary way, damages bear no resemblance to a criminal penalty. The damages awarded to a plaintiff will be such as will compensate him for the loss he has suffered as a result of the wrong, so far as money can. The court looks to the extent of the plaintiff’s loss, not to the quality of the defendant’s conduct. Since the damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff they are of course paid to him"
As to aggravated damages: "The plaintiffs are of course entitled to be fully compensated for all they suffered as a direct result of the defendants’ admitted breach of duty. The ordinary measure of compensatory damages will cover all they have suffered as a result of that breach, physically, psychologically and mentally. Full account will be taken of the distress and anxiety which such an event necessarily causes. To the extent that any of these effects was magnified or exacerbated by the defendants’ conduct, the ordinary measure of damages will compensate. The question is whether, in addition to that full compensatory measure, the plaintiffs have pleaded a sustainable claim for additional compensation by way of aggravated damaged. This is claimed in paragraph 27 on the basis that the plaintiff’s feelings of indignation were aroused by the defendants’ high-handed way of dealing with the incident. I know of no precedent for awarding damages for indignation aroused by a defendant’s conduct. Defamation cases in which a plaintiff’s damages are increased by the defendant’s conduct of the litigation (as by aggressive cross-examination of the plaintiff or persistence in a groundless plea of justification) are not in my view a true exception, since injury to the plaintiff’s feelings and self-esteem is an important part of the damage for which compensation is awarded. In very many other tort actions (and, for that matter, actions in contract, boundary disputes, partnership actions and other disputes) the plaintiff is indignant at the conduct of the defendant (or his insurers). An award of damages does not follow: nor, in my judgment should it, since this is not damage directly caused by the defendant’s tortious conduct and this is not damage which the law has ever recognised."
1 Citers



 
 Devine v Designer Flowers Wholesale Florist Sundries Ltd; EAT 1993 - [1993] IRLR 517
 
Blamire v South Cumbria Health Authority [1993] P1QR Q1
1993
CA
Garland J, Steyn LJ
Damages, Personal Injury, Education
When assessing damages for losses arising through professional negligence by a school, the court arrived at a lump sum representing the loss of the opportunity to gain employment at the end of a successful period of education. The onus of proving what the plaintiff would have earned had he not been injured and what he was now likely to earn rested on the plaintiff throughout.
1 Citers


 
K v P [1993] Ch 140
1993
ChD
Ferris J
Negligence, Damages
The court considered when orders might be made under the Act for a contribution to be made to damages payable. Ferris J said: "In my judgment the ex turpi causa defence is not available as an answer to a claim for contribution under the Act of 1978. The specific purpose of that Act, as of the Act of 1935 before it, was to enable claims for contribution to be made as between parties who had no claim to contribution under the general law. To permit the ex turpi causa defence to be relied upon as an answer to such a claim would, in my view, narrow to a substantial extent the deliberately wide wording of section 6(1) of the Act of 1978 and would, in effect, make a claim for contribution subject to a condition precedent which is not to be found in the Act. Moreover, section 2(1) and (2) give the court ample power to fix the amount of the contribution at a level, including a zero level, which takes account of all the factors which, in relation to common law claims, are relevant to the ex turpi causa defence."
Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 1(1)
1 Citers


 
McWhinney v British Coal Corporation 1993 SLT 467
1993


Personal Injury, Damages, Scotland
A 41 year old man claimed that as a result of an accident, he was able to walk only 50 yards at a time and that with the assistance of a stick, and who was described as being for all practical purposes unlikely to ever work again.
1 Citers



 
 Anderson v Davis; QBD 1993 - [1993] PIQR Q87
 
Ricci v Masons [1993] 3 EG LR 159
1993


Landlord and Tenant, Professional Negligence, Damages
The tenant sued his solicitor who had failed to make application to the court in time to secure his right to a new tenancy. As a result, the tenant had had to accept a five year contracted out lease, as opposed to a 10 year lease with a break clause. Held: The damages were to be measured as the difference in value between the two leases, in this case set at £100,000.
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

 
Mercury Communications Ltd v London and India Dock Investments Ltd (1993) 69 P&CR 135; [1994] 1 EGLR 229
1993

Judge Hague QC
Land, Damages

1 Cites

1 Citers


 
K v P (J, Third Party) [1993] Ch 140
1993

Ferris J
Damages
Illegality was arguably not a defence to a claim under the Act of 1978: "The Act of 1978 extends the potential for contribution beyond joint tortfeasors to joint contractors, joint trustees and others who are liable in respect of the same damage. . . . it is manifest that the words of section 6(1) of the Act of 1978 are intended to be interpreted widely, hence the use of the words 'whatever the basis of his liability' and the emphasis added by the word 'otherwise' at the end of the enumerated causes of action."
Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 1
1 Citers


 
Kaines (UK) Ltd v Osterreichische Warrenhandelsgesellschaft Austrowaren Gesellschaft mbH [1993] 2 LL Rep 1
1993
CA

Damages, Contract
In June 1987 the defendants repudiated a contract to sell the claimant's crude oil for lifting in September 1987 and for payment in October 1987. The claimants thereupon contracted to buy the oil at a higher price, again for lifting in September 1987 and for payment in October 1987; and in August 1987 they issued their claim against the defendants. Held: The trial judge had erred in awarding interest from as far back as the date of the issue of the claim in that it was only in October 1987, when they had paid the higher price, that the claimants had sustained the loss. The injured party may, and if there is a market generally will, be required to make a substitute contract; and his damages will be assessed by reference to the time when the contract should have been made. This will usually be the time of acceptance of the breach. The judge's finding on the date when the buyers should have bought in a substitute cargo "fixes the level of the plaintiffs' damages on the facts of this case irrespective of what the plaintiffs did or failed to do at the time" and "crystallises the position so far as the basis of a capital award of damages is concerned".
1 Citers


 
Jaggard v Sawyer [1993] 1 EGLR 197
1993
CC
Judge Jack QC
Land, Damages
(Weymouth County Court) The court refused an injunction to a land owner who complained that a neighbour had erected a building over a right of way. The court awarded damages of £694.44, being a proportionate part of the the sum he might be expected to have to pay for the right of way which had been lost.
1 Citers


 
Woodrup v Nicol [1993] PIQR Q104
1993
CA
Russell LJ
Personal Injury, Damages
To decide the reasonableness of private medical and related expenses, regard must be had to section 2(4) [of the 1948 Act], which entails: "if, on the balance of probabilities, a plaintiff is going to use private medicine in the future as a matter of choice, the defendant cannot contend that the claim should be disallowed because National Health Service facilities are available. On the other hand, if, on the balance of probabilities, private facilities are not going to be used, for whatever reason, the plaintiff is not entitled to claim for an expense which he is not going to incur."
Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 2(4)
1 Citers


 
B Hargreaves Ltd v Action 2000 Ltd Ind Summary, 15 February 1993
15 Feb 1993
CA

Damages, Construction
A builder was sued for damages, and sought to set off against the damages claimed an as yet unquantified cross claim which was dependent upon a valuation to be carried out, that claim was insufficiently certain or ascertained to permit it to be used by way of set off.

 
Daley and Another v Ramdath Gazette, 10 March 1993
10 Mar 1993
CA

Landlord and Tenant, Damages
An exemplary damages award against a Landlord's professional agent was disallowed.

 
Wrexham Maelor Borough Council v MacDougall and others [1993] EWCA Civ 24
1 Apr 1993
CA

Land, Damages

Lands Tribunal Act 1949
[ Bailii ]

 
 Rantzen v Mirror Group Newspapers (1986) Ltd and Others; CA 1-Apr-1993 - Times, 06 April 1993; Independent, 01 April 1993; [1994] QB 670; [1993] 4 All ER 975; [1993] EWCA Civ 16
 
Surrey County Council v Bredero Homes Ltd [1993] 1 WLR 1361; [1993] 3 All ER 705; [1993] EWCA Civ 7; [1993] EWCA Civ 21; [1993] EGCS 77; [1993] 25 EG 141
7 Apr 1993
CA
Dillon, Steyn, Rose LJJ
Land, Damages, Planning
A local authority had sold surplus land to a developer and obtained a covenant that the developer would develop the land in accordance with an existing planning permission. The sole purpose of the local authority in imposing the covenant was to enable it to share in the planning gain if, as happened, planning permission was subsequently granted for the erection of a larger number of houses. The purpose was that the developer would have to apply and pay for a relaxation of the covenant if it wanted to build more houses. In breach of covenant the developer completed the development in accordance with the later planning permission, and the local authority brought a claim for damages. Held: The erection of the larger number of houses in breach of the covenant had not caused any financial loss to the local authority. The Court refused to countenance the possibility of awarding restitutionary damages for breach of contract, giving reasons why such an award should be exceptional. Wrotham Park type damages were defensible only on the basis that they were restitutionary in nature. The judge had awarded nominal damages of pounds 2, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the local authority's appeal.
Steyn LJ distinguished between a claimant's "positive or expectation interest" and his "negative" interest which enables a claim to be made for "reliance" losses.
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]

 
 Wrotham Park Settled Estates v Hertsmere Borough Council; CA 12-Apr-1993 - Ind Summary, 12 April 1993; [1993] 33 RVR 56; [1993] 2 EGLR 15; [1991] 62 P&CR 652

 
 Ministry of Defence v Ashman and Another; CA 3-May-1993 - Ind Summary, 03 May 1993; [1993] EGLR 102; (1993) 25 HLR 513; (1993) 66 P&CR 195

 
 Hunt v Severs; CA 13-May-1993 - Independent, 13 May 1993; Times, 13 May 1993

 
 Royscott Commercial Leasing Ltd v Ismail; CA 17-May-1993 - Ind Summary, 17 May 1993
 
F and H Contractors v Commercial Union Unreported, 18 May 1993
18 May 1993
CA

Damages
Contractors had spread fertiliser unevenly on a field preparatory to the planting of a crop of potatoes. The result was "striping", some potatoes showing signs of nutrient deficiency, whilst the remainder grew too quickly, resulting in an overall loss of yield. Held. The plaintiff's appeal failed. The loss was not "loss of or damage to material property" within the meaning of the public liability policy. All the plants were found to have produced potatoes of uniform quality, but of uneven size. There was no disease.
1 Citers


 
Cargill International Sa v C P N Tanders (Bermuda) Ltd Times, 10 June 1993
10 Jun 1993
CA

Damages
Meaning of 'loss or damage' extended to cover not just physical loss.

 
The Lu Shan Times, 15 June 1993
15 Jun 1993
QBD

Damages, Transport
Interest to be calculated up to the point a the claimed being compromised.


 
 Arab Monetary Fund v Hashim and Others (No 8); ChD 17-Jun-1993 - Times, 17 June 1993; [1993] CLY 3134

 
 McConville and Others v Barclays Bank Plc and Others; OR 30-Jun-1993 - Times, 30 June 1993
 
Lonhro Plc and Others v Fayed and Others Independent, 27 July 1993
27 Jul 1993
CA

Damages
Damages for loss of reputation were recoverable only in an action for defamation.

 
Gilsenan v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis Gazette, 02 August 1993
2 Aug 1993
CA

Damages
An action which had been concluded after the raising of the County Court limit on damages awards is still bound to the earlier £5,000 limit.

 
Doyle v Robinson Ind Summary, 18 October 1993; Ind Summary, 06 September 1993
6 Sep 1993
CA

Litigation Practice, Damages
An applicant to strike out his opponent's case need not show financial calculations where there was long delay and the issues were simple.

 
Mcleish v Amoo-Gottfried and Co Times, 13 October 1993
13 Oct 1993
QBD

Damages
Damages given mental distress for solicitor's negligence in criminal defence.

 
Mason v Nwokorie Gazette, 17 November 1993; Times, 19 October 1993; (1994) 26 HLR 60
19 Oct 1993
CA
Dillon LJ
Landlord and Tenant, Damages
General and aggravated damages at common law are to be set off, against damages awarded under Housing Act 1988 s2. The general damages were attributable to the loss of the right to occupy the premises, and therefore the common law damages award should be set off against the statutory award for the same loss.
Housing Act 1988 27
1 Citers


 
McCarthy Stone plc and others v The Daily Telegraph Unreported, 11 November 1993
11 Nov 1993
CA
Rose LJ, Hoffmann LJ
Defamation, Damages
Counsel had wished to open his case to the jury with a reference to the fall of £10m in the plaintiff company's market capitalisation which occurred because of the defendant's article complained of. It was said that the fall in the share price was admissible evidence as one indicator of the effect of the article on the goodwill of the company. The Court decided that evidence of the share price movement should be excluded, because no notice had been given that the point was intended to be relied on, and there was to be no evidence as to causation: the jury were simply being asked by to infer causation from the fact of the fall that occurred after the publication. Held: Rose LJ: 'With regard to the evidence of share price, I am prepared to accept that this may be relevant to goodwill as well as to special damages, as Lord Williams submits, and that so far as it is relevant to good will rather than special damage, it does not have to be pleaded'.
1 Citers


 
Stringman v McCardle Ind Summary, 06 December 1993; Times, 19 November 1993; [1994] 1 WLR 1653
19 Nov 1993
CA

Litigation Practice, Damages
The Judge is not to be concerned with the intended application or use of interim damages requested to be paid to a Plaintiff.
Rules of the Supreme Court rule 11
1 Citers



 
 Littrell v Government of the United States of America and Another (No 2); CA 24-Nov-1993 - Times, 24 November 1993; Independent, 02 December 1993; Gazette, 26 January 1994; [1995] 1 WLR 82; [1994] 4 All ER 203
 
Johnson Matthey Plc v Eros Castings Ltd and Others Times, 07 December 1993
7 Dec 1993
QBD

Damages
Costs on an indemnity basis should be awarded only in rare circumstances.
Rules of the Supreme Court 62 3-4

 
Obagi v Stanborough (Developments) Ltd and Others Times, 15 December 1993
15 Dec 1993
ChD

Damages
Loss of profit claim allowed if substantial not speculative possibility.


 
 Watts v Aldington, Tolstoy v Aldington; CA 15-Dec-1993 - Times, 16 December 1993; Independent, 25 January 1994; CA Transcript 1578 of 1993; [1999] LTR 578
 
Houston v Smith Unreported, 16 December 1993
16 Dec 1993
CA
Hirst LJ
Defamation, Damages
Doctors operated within the same building. The defendant falsely accused the plaintiff of harassing her and her staff, groping them and fondling them sexually. The allegation was made in the hearing of several of the plaintiff’s patients in the doctors’ joint waiting room. The defendant denied having suggested impropriety with her staff but sought to justify her allegation of personal harassment, alleging that the plaintiff had brushed up against her deliberately. The allegation of sexual harassment was plainly a matter of the utmost gravity for a general practitioner, there were aggravating features and there had been no apology. The publication, however, had been only to a very small number of people. The Court of Appeal reduced the jury’s award of £150,000 to £50,000. If a prompt apology had been published the appropriate award would have been a very small fraction that sum.
1 Citers



 
 Beoco Ltd v Alfa Laval Co Ltd and Another; CA 21-Dec-1993 - Ind Summary, 24 January 1994; Times, 12 January 1994; [1993] EWCA Civ 22; [1995] QB 137; [1994] 4 All ER 464; [1994] CLC 111; 66 BLR 1; [1994] 3 WLR 1179
 
Copyright 2014 David Swarbrick, 10 Halifax Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 2AG.