Elbanna (claimant/respondent) v Clark (defendant/appellant)
Monday 19 May 2025
By Appellant’s Notice filed on 10 April 2024, the Defendant appeals the order dated 14 June 2024 of Sweeting J, sitting in the King’s Bench Division, on a trial of a preliminary issue as to liability, after judgment handed down on 20 March 2024.
Personal injury claim. On 7th of October 2017 the Claimant and the Defendant were taking part in an amateur rugby match on opposing sides. As the game was restarted for the second half, the Defendant ran forward to chase the ball and collided with the Claimant causing him to suffer a serious spinal injury at the C5/C6 level.
The Claimant’s case was that the collision resulted from a reckless or negligent breach of the duty of care owed by the Defendant to the Claimant as a fellow participant in the game. During the evidence it was suggested to the Defendant that the collision was intentional and designed to remove the Claimant from the game temporarily. There was no suggestion that the Defendant intended to cause the injuries which in fact resulted.
The Defendant denied that there was any breach of duty on his part; his case is that the collision was a simple accident of the sort which can occur inadvertently in the context of a fast-moving game involving physical contact.
Sweeting J concluded liability has been made out.