October 5, 2025
A fitter’s mate negligently caused serious flooding while working on ducting in a factory. The Court of Appeal held that both the subcontractor providing labour and the intermediary contractor were vicariously liable, recognising for the first time that dual vicarious liability is legally possible where control is shared. Facts Viasystems...
October 5, 2025
The House of Lords held that police had not breached Article 2 by failing to protect a threatened witness, Giles Van Colle, because the stringent Osman "real and immediate" risk test was not met, and that, generally, police owe no common law duty of care to protect individuals from criminal...
October 5, 2025
An experienced rider was injured after a horse fitted with a bitless bridle for the first time failed to respond and she fell. Her Animals Act 1971 claim failed because, although section 2(2) conditions were effectively satisfied, the Court of Appeal held she had voluntarily accepted the inherent risks of...
October 5, 2025
Transco’s gas main ran in a council embankment. A fractured water pipe supplying council flats saturated landfill, collapsing the embankment and endangering the main. The House of Lords preserved but narrowed Rylands v Fletcher and held the council’s ordinary water supply created no strict liability. Facts The respondent council owned...
October 5, 2025
An 18‑year‑old dived into shallow water at a country park lake, broke his neck and sued the local authorities as occupiers. The House of Lords held they owed no duty to prevent him from taking an obvious risk, stressing personal responsibility and limiting occupiers’ liability for natural features. Facts Brereton...
October 4, 2025
A 13‑month‑old child ingested dishwasher powder from a Tesco own‑brand bottle with a child‑resistant cap that did not meet British Standard torque levels. The Court of Appeal held there was no defect under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and no common law negligence, allowing Tesco’s appeal and dismissing a cross‑appeal...
October 4, 2025
John Terry, a high‑profile professional sportsman, sought a wide, largely secret interim injunction to prevent publication of information about a personal relationship. Tugendhat J refused to continue the order, emphasising open justice, the Bonnard v Perryman rule, and rigorous Article 8/10 balancing in privacy injunctions. Facts The applicant, John Terry...
October 4, 2025
Mrs Taylor was injured at work through her employer’s admitted negligence and died three weeks later from complications. Her daughter developed PTSD after witnessing the death and claimed as a secondary victim. The Court of Appeal held she could not recover, restricting proximity for psychiatric injury claims. Facts On 27...
October 4, 2025
Mr Tamiz sued Google over allegedly defamatory comments posted on a Blogger-hosted blog. The High Court held Google, as platform provider, was not a publisher at common law and, even if it were, statutory defences applied. Permission to serve Google Inc out of the jurisdiction was set aside. Facts Mr...
October 4, 2025
A Bangladeshi villager alleged the British Geological Survey, part of NERC, negligently failed to test for arsenic and implied local tubewell water was safe, leading to his arsenic poisoning. The House of Lords held NERC owed no duty of care to Bangladesh’s population and upheld summary judgment. Facts The Natural...
October 4, 2025
A doctor built a consulting room at the end of his garden, next to a confectioner who had long used noisy industrial mortars. The Court of Appeal held the noise was a nuisance, rejected the defence that the doctor had ‘come to the nuisance’, and refused any prescriptive right to...
October 4, 2025
Mr Stovin was severely injured when Mrs Wise’s car emerged from a dangerous junction with poor visibility. Norfolk County Council knew of the hazard and had statutory powers to remove it but failed to act. The House of Lords held the council owed no common law duty to exercise that...
October 4, 2025
Stone & Rolls Ltd, a one-man company used as a vehicle for large letter-of-credit frauds, sued its auditors Moore Stephens for negligent audits in failing to uncover and stop the fraud. The court held the illegality defence did not bar the claim, but struck out a compound interest head. Facts...
October 3, 2025
Mrs Stocker posted on Facebook that her ex-husband had 'tried to strangle' her. The Supreme Court held that the trial judge erred by using dictionary definitions to interpret the phrase, rather than considering how an ordinary Facebook reader would understand it. The defence of justification succeeded. Facts The appellant, Nicola...
October 3, 2025
Mr Stark, a postman, was injured when his Post Office bicycle’s front brake stirrup broke due to an undiscoverable defect. Although the employer was not negligent, the Court of Appeal held that regulation 6(1) of the 1992 Work Equipment Regulations imposed an absolute duty, making the Post Office liable. Facts...
October 3, 2025
A fire broke out at a tyre-fitting business, destroying neighbouring property. The claimant sought to recover damages under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher. The Court of Appeal allowed the defendant's appeal, holding that tyres are not exceptionally dangerous things, and their storage was not a non-natural use of land....
October 3, 2025
Mr Tipping sued the St Helen’s Smelting Company for damage to trees and crops caused by noxious fumes from their copper works. The House of Lords held that ordinary industrial operations in an industrial area can still constitute a nuisance where they cause material injury to neighbouring property, and upheld...
October 3, 2025
Mr Spring, a former insurance representative, was denied new appointments after his ex-principals supplied highly damaging references. The House of Lords held by majority that those providing employment references owe the subject a duty of care in negligence and, possibly, in contract, reshaping protection for workers’ reputational and economic interests....
October 3, 2025
Roadworks contractors negligently damaged an electricity cable supplying Spartan Steel’s factory, causing physical damage to a melt in an arc furnace and loss of production profits during a 14½ hour outage. The Court of Appeal limited recovery to physical damage and directly consequential profit, excluding pure economic loss. Facts Spartan...
October 3, 2025
The tanker Inverpool stranded in the Ribble estuary. To refloat her, the master discharged about 400 tons of oil, which polluted Southport Corporation’s foreshore and Marine Lake. The Court of Appeal majority held the shipowners liable in public nuisance and negligence; the master was not personally liable. Facts The defendants...
October 3, 2025
Lenders suffered losses after advancing money on the strength of negligent property valuations and subsequent market falls. The House of Lords held valuers liable only for losses attributable to the overvaluation itself, not for all losses from the lending transaction, establishing the ‘information not advice’ and SAAMCO cap principles on...
October 3, 2025
Littlewoods purchased a cinema intending demolition. Before demolition, vandals broke in and deliberately started a fire which spread to neighbouring properties. The House of Lords held Littlewoods not liable as fire-raising by vandals was not reasonably foreseeable in the circumstances, and there is no general duty to prevent third parties...
October 3, 2025
The Supreme Court heard conjoined mesothelioma appeals. It held that the Fairchild exception applies even where a single known occupational exposure is set against environmental exposure, rejecting the “doubles the risk” test. Any non‑de minimis increase in risk suffices, and epidemiological statistics alone cannot displace this special causation rule. Facts...
October 3, 2025
Mrs Sidaway underwent cervical spine surgery and suffered partial paralysis, a recognised but small risk of the procedure. She claimed her surgeon negligently failed to warn of this risk. The House of Lords held that, applying the Bolam test, there was no negligence and rejected a general doctrine of informed...
October 3, 2025
Mrs Shaw, on behalf of her late father’s estate, claimed additional damages for loss of personal autonomy after a fatal valve implant performed without properly informed consent. The Court of Appeal held that no separate compensatory, vindicatory or conventional damages were available beyond standard personal injury damages. Facts Mr William...
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive