Peter Wake applauds a common sense approach to liability
In the recent case of Esdale v Dover District Council [2010] EWCA Civ 409 the Court of Appeal delivered a helpful judgment in a simple personal injury claim; the facts of which will be familiar to local authorities across the country and their insurers.
The claimant was injured when she tripped and fell on a pathway forming the entrance to the block of flats where she lived. The council was the owner and occupier of both the block of flats and the pathway. The defect was a change in level in the path which the judge held to have measured between ¾ and one inch. The council inspected the path and adopted a general policy of repairing defects measuring more than ¾ inch. The path had been inspected on a number of occasions prior to the accident and the defect had not been regarded as requiring attention. The council’s inspector had reached this conclusion on the basis of a purely visual examination rather than taking a measurement.
There was evidence from the claimant of
