header-logo header-logo

Lights out for excitement?

24 February 2011 / Matthew Snarr
Issue: 7454 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
printer mail-detail

Lights out for excitement? Matthew Snarr reports on the risks of having fun

Where does the proper balance lie between the competing interests of a risk of injury, the likely severity of injury, the social value of an activity and the cost of prevention?

In The Scout Association v Mark Barnes [2010] EWCA Civ 1476, [2010] All ER (D) 284 (Dec) the Court of Appeal considered where the judicial balance ought to lie between protecting the interests of injured parties by negligent conduct as against the social value of an activity which may give rise to a risk of injury. In a majority decision, the Court of Appeal considered how the courts should determine the standard of care of persons responsible for controlling a socially desirable activity which may gives rise to a risk of injury.

The factual background

The claimant was a 13-year-old boy scout at the time of the accident in 2001. He had been playing a game called “Objects in the Dark”. Ten blocks were placed on the floor in the

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll