Alastair Redpath-Stevens considers the consequences of Coventry v Lawrence, Pt 2
Andrew Francis’ excellent article “Making a noise” considered the Supreme Court decision in Coventry v Lawrence [2014] UKSC 13, [2014] 2 All ER 622 (SC1) (see NLJ, 2 May 2014, p 15).
SC1 reversed the Court of Appeal and restored the trial judge’s order based on his finding that Mr Coventry and Moto-Land UK Limited (the respondents) were liable in nuisance to Katherine Lawrence and Raymond Shields (the appellants), the owner-occupiers of a bungalow some 850 yards away from a stadium/track used for various types of noisy motor car and motorcycle racing. The respondents were ordered to pay 60% of the appellants’ costs to be subject to detailed assessment. The trial judge also found that Terence Waters and Anthony Morley and a predecessor landlord (the landlords) were not liable in nuisance.
Coventry revisited
This article considers two issues arising out of SC1 which were considered in Coventry v Lawrence (No 2) [2014] UKSC 46, [2014] All ER (D) 226 (Jul):
- whether the landlords were liable to the appellants in nuisance;