A recent decision in the Court of Appeal has delivered a common sense decision for HealthCare Trusts, Landowners, Property owners and their insurers.
The Court of Appeal decided that a Healthcare Trust was not liable for injuries sustained by an 11 year old boy who injured himself when falling from a fire escape.
The boy had climbed the outside of the fire escape, belonging to a Healthcare Trust, when he fell. The claimant argued that, according to the Occupiers Liability Act, the Trust was responsible for securing the fire escape and had not suitably done so.
Roddy Macleod, partner at law firm Weightmans, says:
"This ruling extends the common sense approach to occupiers liability which we have started to see.
"Whilst there was an accident on the Hospitals property it was not liable even to a child because there was nothing wrong with the fire escape itself. It was what he was doing on the escape which was dangerous."
