December 10, 2025
Miller, sleeping on a mattress in a house, accidentally started a fire by a cigarette. On waking and seeing the mattress alight, he simply moved rooms and went back to sleep. The House of Lords held that, having created the danger, his failure to act could constitute arson. Facts The...
December 10, 2025
Gemma Evans procured heroin for her half-sister Carly, who self-injected, showed clear overdose symptoms and later died. Evans and their mother failed to seek medical help. The Court of Appeal held Evans owed a duty of care and upheld her manslaughter conviction for gross negligence. Facts Gemma Evans and her...
December 10, 2025
Police forced entry into Mr Robinson-Pierre’s home, releasing his pit bull which attacked officers in the street. Convicted under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, he appealed. The Court of Appeal held section 3(1) creates strict but not absolute liability, requiring some causal act or omission by the owner, and quashed...
November 25, 2025
The Supreme Court’s judgment in Jwanczuk affirms judicial restraint, upholding bright-line rules even amid proven disability-related discrimination. It also clarifies precedent for devolved contexts, limiting strict "follow unless compelling reason" principles to tax cases.
November 23, 2025
This appeal resolves a narrow but strategically important question in costs law: when (if ever) an English court should order costs in a foreign currency rather than sterling.
October 5, 2025
Overseas Tankship’s ship Wagon Mound leaked furnace oil in Sydney harbour. Welding sparks ignited it, destroying nearby repair ships. The Privy Council held that even a very small but serious risk must be guarded against if reasonably foreseeable, shaping negligence breach analysis. Facts Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd chartered a freighter,...
October 5, 2025
A Guernsey gas employer exposed an employee to asbestos over 27 years but was insured with Zurich for only six. The Supreme Court held that, under Barker, the employer’s and insurer’s liability for damages was proportionate to insured exposure, but defence costs were fully recoverable. Facts International Energy Group Ltd...
October 5, 2025
Children alleged serious failings by social services in protection from abuse, and by education authorities in providing for special educational needs. The House of Lords held there was no duty of care in the child protection functions or statutory educational discretions, but allowed limited negligence claims against educational psychologists and...
October 5, 2025
A professional photographer unfamiliar with horses was injured at a horse show when a competitor's horse veered off course during a galloping competition. The Court of Appeal held the rider was not negligent, establishing that participants in sporting events owe spectators a duty not to show reckless disregard for their...
October 5, 2025
A 10‑year‑old pupil suffered severe brain injury during a school swimming lesson taught by independent contractors. The Supreme Court held that the local education authority potentially owed a non‑delegable duty to ensure reasonable care in such lessons, clarifying when public bodies have personal, non‑delegable duties despite outsourcing. Facts The case...
October 5, 2025
Morrisons’ employee Andrew Skelton, harbouring a grudge, copied payroll data of almost 100,000 staff and posted it online. Thousands sued Morrisons. The Supreme Court held Skelton acted on a personal vendetta, so Morrisons was not vicariously liable, clarifying limits of employer liability. Facts The appellant, WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, operates...
October 5, 2025
A very premature baby suffered severe visual impairment from retrolental fibroplasia and sued the health authority, alleging negligent oxygen management. The House of Lords held that McGhee did not alter the ordinary burden of proving causation, set aside earlier judgments, and ordered a retrial on causation. Facts The infant plaintiff,...
October 5, 2025
Mr English, a mine worker, was injured on a haulage road when no reasonably safe system existed for men returning at shift end. The House of Lords held that an employer’s duty to provide a safe system of work is personal and non‑delegable, unaffected by common employment or statutory technical...
October 5, 2025
Mr Willers alleged that Mr Gubay maliciously caused a company to sue him in civil proceedings without reasonable cause, as part of a vendetta, causing reputational, financial and personal harm. The Supreme Court held that the tort of malicious prosecution applies to civil proceedings, allowing his claim to proceed. Facts...
October 5, 2025
Mr Downton falsely told Mrs Wilkinson, as a practical joke, that her husband had been badly injured, causing her severe nervous shock and physical illness. The court held that a wilful act calculated to cause physical harm, and actually causing it, is actionable. Facts The defendant, in what he considered...
October 5, 2025
Owners of the Harrow Hotel claimed compensation under section 10 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 for loss caused by bridge improvement works. The House of Lords limited compensation to loss that would be actionable at common law, but confirmed that temporary injurious affection to land can be compensable. Facts...
October 5, 2025
A mother issued a wrongful birth claim after her son was born with spina bifida. Following her suicide and subsequent negligent delay by her solicitors, her estate and the child’s father sued the solicitors and barrister. The Court of Appeal granted limited permission to appeal only on the father’s personal...
October 5, 2025
Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White sued his wife’s solicitors over “Hildebrand” documents she had taken and given to them for ancillary relief proceedings. The Court of Appeal held his trespass to goods and conversion claims should not be struck out, clarifying limits of Hildebrand self‑help. Facts Marco Pierre White and...
October 5, 2025
Mr Barratt instructed his solicitors to revise his will to benefit his reconciled daughters, but they negligently delayed and he died before execution. The daughters received nothing under the old will. The House of Lords held, by majority, that the solicitors owed them a tortious duty of care. Facts Mr...
October 5, 2025
Mr Wheat, a paying guest in a public house, fell down an internal back staircase and died. His widow sued the brewery owners under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. The House of Lords held the brewery were occupiers but had not breached the common duty of care. Facts Mr and...
October 5, 2025
Barratt obtained planning permission for a housing development and had a statutory right under section 106 Water Industry Act 1991 to connect its drains to Welsh Water’s sewer. Welsh Water blocked the connection with concrete. The Court of Appeal held Barratt could not recover damages in nuisance, trespass or negligence...
October 5, 2025
A fireman was injured when a heavy jack, hastily loaded unsecured on a lorry during an emergency call to free a trapped woman, shifted and crushed his leg. He sued his employer in negligence. The Court of Appeal held there was no breach of duty, emphasising the higher risks justified...
October 5, 2025
Mrs Wainwright and her son Alan were strip searched when visiting a prisoner and alleged an invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of distress. The House of Lords held there is no general common law tort of privacy and limited recovery to battery and recognised psychiatric harm. Facts On 15...
October 5, 2025
Approved foster parents told the local authority they would not accept a child known or suspected to be a sexual abuser. The authority nevertheless placed such a boy, who abused their children. The House of Lords held the parents’ psychiatric injury claim was arguable and should not be struck out....
October 5, 2025
Richard Vowles, a rugby hooker, was paralysed when a scrum collapsed after the referee permitted an inexperienced player to join the front row without proper enquiry. The Court of Appeal upheld that amateur referees owe players a duty of care to enforce safety rules, and the referee's breach caused the...
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive