A mill owner's reservoir, built over disused mine shafts, flooded a neighbour's working mine. Despite not being negligent, the owner was held liable. This landmark case established the rule of strict liability for the escape of dangerous things from one's land. Facts The defendant, John Rylands, a mill owner, employed independent contractors to construct a reservoir on his land to supply water to his mill. During construction, the contractors discovered old, disused coal mining shafts beneath the site, which were not properly sealed. These shafts unknowingly connected to the operational mine of the claimant, Thomas Fletcher. When the reservoir was
A woman was arrested and photographed, but the charges were dropped. The police refused to destroy her photo. The court held that police have a common law power to retain photographs of unconvicted individuals for crime prevention purposes, which was proportionate. Facts The appellant, Mrs Rowlands, was arrested by Merseyside Police on suspicion of harassing her neighbour. In accordance with standard procedure, her photograph was taken at the police station. Subsequently, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with the charges against her. Mrs Rowlands then requested that the police destroy the photograph. The Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
A boy was injured while assisting a milkman who had been expressly forbidden by his employer from using helpers. The Court of Appeal held the employer vicariously liable, reasoning the milkman was performing his authorised job, albeit in an unauthorised manner. Facts The plaintiff, Leslie Rose, a boy aged 13, was injured due to the negligent driving of a milkman, Mr Plenty. Mr Plenty was employed by the defendants, A. Plenty & Son, a dairy. The defendants had an explicit policy, communicated through notices, forbidding their milkmen from allowing children to ride on the milk floats or employing them for
A non-union employee was dismissed after union officials threatened an illegal strike in breach of a no-strike agreement. The House of Lords recognised the tort of intimidation based on a threat to breach a contract and established restrictive new categories for awarding exemplary damages. Facts The appellant, Mr Rookes, was a skilled draughtsman employed by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C.) at London Airport. He was a member of the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (A.E.S.D.), a registered trade union. Following a disagreement, Mr Rookes resigned from the union in November 1955. At the time, there was an informal
Two claimants were paralysed by a spinal anaesthetic contaminated by phenol which seeped through invisible cracks in glass ampoules. The court ruled the hospital was not negligent as this risk was unforeseeable in 1947, establishing that conduct is judged by contemporaneous knowledge, not hindsight. Facts In October 1947, two separate claimants, Mr Roe and Mr Woolley, underwent minor operations at the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital. Both were administered a spinal anaesthetic by a specialist anaesthetist, Dr Graham. The anaesthetic, nupercaine, was stored in sealed glass ampoules. To ensure sterility, these ampoules were kept submerged in a solution of
An elderly woman was injured when police officers, arresting a suspect, foreseeably collided with her. The Supreme Court found the police liable in negligence. It ruled that where police create a danger of foreseeable harm, an ordinary duty of care arises without applying the Caparo test. Facts Mrs Robinson, a 76-year-old woman, was walking along a busy street in Huddersfield. A group of police officers were attempting to arrest a suspected drug dealer, Mr Williams. The officers decided to arrest him on the street. As they moved to make the arrest, Mr Williams resisted. In the ensuing struggle, two officers
A father intended to publish a memoir detailing past abuse. His son sought an injunction, fearing psychological harm. The Supreme Court discharged the injunction, clarifying the tort of intentionally inflicting emotional distress requires intent to cause harm, not just recklessness. Facts The appellant, a professional musician and author, wrote a memoir detailing the extreme sexual, physical, and emotional abuse he suffered as a child, along with his subsequent struggles with drug addiction, self-harm, and mental illness. He intended for the book to be published for a wide audience. However, his former wife, acting as the litigation friend for their 12-year-old
A trespasser dived into a lake at a water park and was seriously injured by a submerged object. As the park owners were unaware of the object's existence, the court held they owed no duty of care under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984. Facts The claimant, Mr Gary Rhind, aged 21, suffered tetraplegia after diving into a shallow lake, or mere, at a country park owned and occupied by the defendant, Astbury Water Park Ltd. The park was a disused sand quarry. Despite a prominent sign stating ‘Private Property Strictly No Swimming’, the claimant ran and performed a shallow dive
Former Irish Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, sued for libel over an article concerning his resignation. The House of Lords rejected a generic qualified privilege for 'political speech' but established the 'Reynolds defence', a flexible test of 'responsible journalism' based on several factors. Facts Mr Albert Reynolds, who had recently resigned as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, brought a libel action against Times Newspapers Ltd over an article published in the British mainland edition of The Sunday Times. The article, headlined ‘Goodbye gombeen man’, suggested that Mr Reynolds had deliberately and dishonestly misled the Dáil (the Irish Parliament) regarding a controversial legal
An elderly couple were trapped in a faulty hospital lift for over an hour, causing them distress but no physical injury or recognised psychiatric illness. The court held that damages for mere mental distress, such as fear and anxiety, are not recoverable in negligence. Facts The plaintiffs, Mr and Mrs Reilly, aged 61 and 72 respectively, went to visit their prematurely born grandchild at the Women’s Hospital in Liverpool, which was managed by the defendant, Merseyside Regional Health Authority. While in a hospital lift, it malfunctioned, trapping them for one hour and twenty minutes. Mr Reilly suffered from angina and
