Law of Tort exam PDF

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LLBP2045

2015/2016 Law LLB 2 Law of Tort 23 May 2016 3 hours 12.30

3.30

You must answer THREE questions in total. All questions carry equal marks. Statutes or other extrinsic materials are not allowed.

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1.

Having come across an interesting demonstration on YouTube, James is showing a group of his children’s friends what happens if you place a bottle of fizzy pop onto a bonfire. One of the children, Bonny, a six year old from the neighbouring house, is injured when the bottle explodes violently. Aaliyah, Bonny’s mother, hears the explosion and tries to climb over the fence in order to save Bonny, but she falls from the fence and breaks her hip. Aaliyah and Bonny are taken to hospital for treatment. Because of the pain from her injury Aaliyah forgets to tell the doctor that Bonny is allergic to penicillin and the injection that she is given results in an extreme reaction leaving Bonny with permanent brain damage. Aaliyah is so distracted by Bonny’s initial reaction to the treatment that she refuses to be seen to herself until Bonny is settled. Once her injury has been properly assessed, it becomes evident that the delay has reduced her chances of recovering full mobility from 55% to 48%. Consider the legal principles relevant to the issues of causation and remoteness and any defences that might be available.

2.

Chuggington College runs a training course for nursery nurses and, in order to provide valuable experience for the students, operates a free crèche for the pre-school aged children of local residents. Tracy, a first year student, is supervising a group of four-year old children when several squabbles break out amongst the children. Bob, one of the children, catches another child, Sally, in the eye with a crayon, resulting in permanent damage to her sight. The commotion attracts the attention of Donna, the class tutor, who runs over to help but trips over Bob, causing severe bruising both to herself and to the child. Meanwhile, Martin, the baby whose nappy she had been in the middle of changing, rolls off the work surface and falls to the floor breaking both legs. Assuming each of the potential defendants owes a duty of care to the victims, consider the issues of standard of care and breach of duty raised by these facts.

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3.

Tom and Jerry are rival competitors in the National Darts Championship. In order to put psychological pressure upon Tom, Jerry delivered a message to Tom’s wife, informing her that Tom was desperately ill in hospital. She was terribly upset by the message and was injured as she fainted. On the day before the finals of the Championship, Tom waited until all Jerry’s staff had left the office where Jerry worked and then he locked the office door. As it turned out, Jerry was concentrating on some work he had to finish, and did not try to leave the office for another two hours. When he discovered that the door had been locked he thought that the cleaner must have locked it and he climbed down a drain pipe. As Jerry passed the pub next door to his office he saw Tom. Jerry went into the pub, took hold of Tom by the arm and spoke to him calmly and politely about the incidents. Tom knocked Jerry to the ground. Consider the legal principles relating to trespass to the person relevant to this scenario.

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4.

Boulder plc own a former quarry site which they have developed as a Museum of Mining. Members of the public are allowed in on payment of a £5 fee, and at the ticket office there is a large sign stating: ‘All those entering this site do so at their own risk; all liability on the part of the site owner is excluded under your contract of entry’. Salinder is an A level geology student on a field trip to the museum arranged by her college. She is injured when she strikes her head on a rock projecting from the low roof of a dimly lit tunnel. Dope, who was one of a group of year four pupils on a visit from a local primary school, wanders off by himself and enters a part of the site which is fenced off and where there is a sign saying: ‘Danger – Deep hole – No entry for anyone’. Dope ignores the sign and is injured when he falls into the hole. Consider the application of the Occupiers’ Liability Acts to these facts.

5.

Tom operates a sawmill and timber yard in a small village. He has leased the premises from Willy, who told him to be careful about the noise and dust. As the business expands, Tom gets planning permission for a much larger mill. Tom installs additional machinery and, in order to meet all his business’s orders, works late into the night. Helen, who owns the property next door to the mill, finds it difficult to sleep at night because of the noise from the mill. The operation of the new machinery interferes with the quality of picture on her digital television. She retaliates by telephoning Tom’s house late at night and remaining silent when his children’s nanny answers the phone. The dust extraction equipment installed by Tom is inadequate for the amount of work he is now undertaking, and wood dust is blown over the village. Some of the dust falls in Giorgio’s garden and ruins a large number of sensitive orchids he was growing to exhibit in the village show. Consider any potential liability in nuisance.

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Montel is employed by Bogshire Bus Company as a customer care operative. His duties include advising passengers as to the times and points of departure of buses. Paula, who is chatting on her mobile phone, asks Montel where the bus to London leaves from. Angered by Paula’s rudeness Montel takes her roughly by the arm and places her on board a bus to Norwich. The bus departs. Another of Montel’s duties is to distribute refreshments. While taking the trolley around the waiting room, he carelessly spills hot tea over Federico, a waiting passenger. When Kevin, a youth who has come in to shelter from the rain, took several biscuits, Montel slapped his hand. Despite clear instructions to the contrary, Montel is sorry for an old lady with heavy luggage, and drives her home in his car. On the way back to work, he carelessly runs over and injures Gordon. Consider the legal principles relevant to any potential liability of Bogshire Bus Company for Montel’s actions.

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Della is a renowned cook, with many published books and TV appearances. She is particularly known for her insistence that everyone should cook using fresh ingredients and that there is never an excuse for serving processed foods. Patrick photographs Della leaving a supermarket with a trolley crammed with tinned and frozen ready meals. Patrick uploads the photo onto a social networking site, Natter, together with the caption, ‘Two-faced, or what!’ Della had been booked for cookery demonstrations at a number of food fairs organised by the Local Foods Federation, but these are cancelled when, as a result of this posting, the LFF sends out a letter to all members instructing them to have no further contact, ‘... with this woman who does not practise what she preaches’. The story is taken up by the Daily Blag, a newspaper with a very poor reputation. On the front page is published the photo, together with a headline, ‘SHAMELESS?’, indicating there is more to be found on page two. Over the page is a related article explaining that Della had in fact been shopping for a neighbour who was at home recovering from an operation. Consider the legal principles governing the likely success of any actions in defamation available to Della....