{"id":5451,"date":"2018-03-07T09:26:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T09:26:58","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-07-16T12:23:15","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T12:23:15","slug":"orchard-v-lee-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/orchard-v-lee-2009.php","title":{"rendered":"Orchard v Lee – 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orchard v Lee [2009] EWCA 295<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEGLIGENCE \u2013 BREACH OF DUTY – CHILDREN <\/strong><\/p>\n

Facts<\/h3>\n

The claimant was a school dinner lady acting as a supervisor in a children\u2019s playground. She sustained injuries when a 13-year-old boy ran backwards into her while playing a game of tag. She sued the boy in the tort of negligence,<\/p>\n

Issue<\/h3>\n

Establishing negligence involves showing that the defendant owed the claimant a duty of care, which they breached in a manner that caused the claimant recoverable harm. It was not disputed that the boy owed the supervisor a duty. However, to establish a breach, the claimant must establish that the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would in their position.<\/p>\n

The issue was whether the boy had breached his duty of care, and the relevance of his age.<\/p>\n

Decision\/Outcome<\/h3>\n

The Court of Appeal held that the boy had not breached his duty of care, and so was not liable.<\/p>\n

Mullin v Richards<\/strong> was cited as authority for the proposition that a child is only held to the standard of a reasonable child of his age rather than a reasonable adult. As such, the Court of Appeal noted, the level of careless conduct required for a breach when the defendant is a child will be very high.<\/p>\n

The requisite level of carelessness will not be found where, as was the case here, the child is playing a game in a playground, not breaking the rules of that game, and not behaving in a manner which is significantly outside of the norms of a game of that nature played by 13-year-olds.<\/p>\n

As it is normal for 13-year-olds to do careless things like run backwards while playing tag while not foreseeing injury resulting from their actions, the defendant was not in breach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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