The claimant worked as a training assistant at a secure training centre. After she used a recommended restraint method on a child, the child died, and she had herself become unable to continue to work. She claimed liability in the recommendation of an unsafe forcible restraint method. She appealed against rejection of her claim on the grounds that she had not in fact used the recommended method, and had persisted despite recommendations in the guidance to desist if it became unsafe.
Held: The respondent had known that the technique needed review, and had failed to do so. The claimant’s failure was not in misapplying the technique but in its excess use.
Had the respondent caused the injury? Causation in negligence claims is one of fairness. Though the respondent was at fault, it could not be said that that fault contributed to the damage suffered by the claimant. The appeal failed.
Judges:
Laws, Patten Sedley LJJ
Citations:
[2010] EWCA Civ 99
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Personal Injury, Prisons, Negligence
Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.400995