The House of Lords Restrict Occupiers Liability for Accidents: Tomlinson v. Congleton Borough Council and Others (2004)

In one of the most important decisions in the area of occupiers liability in the last decade the House of Lords, the United Kingdom's supreme tribunal, has made a landmark decision limiting the liability of occupiers: The case arose out of a tragic accident at Brereton Heath Country Park, between Holmes Chapel and Congleton. The Park covers about 80 acres and has been owned by Congleton Borough Council since 1980 when the council acquired the land surrounding what was then a derelict sand quarry and laid it out as a country park. The Park is managed by Cheshire County Council. On a very hot 6th May in 1995 18 year old John Tomlison and some friends went to the Park; to cool off Tomlinson dived into the lake and his head hit the bottom, breaking his fifth vertebrae and Mr Tomlinson is sadly now a tetraplegic. The majority of the Court of Appeal (Longmore LJ dissenting) had allowed an appeal from the decision of Mr Justice Jacks who initially turned down the claim and held that the defendants were liable for a claim in occupier's liability. However the House of Lord robustly criticised the majority decision in Court of Appeal and all five Law Lords found that no liability was owed to the claimant, upholding the original judgement of Jacks J and supporting the position of Longmore LJ.

Lord Hoffman in the House of Lords remarked "in these proceedings [Tomlin] seeks financial compensation: for the loss of his earning capacity, for the expense of the care he will need, for the loss of the ability to lead an ordinary life. But the law does not provide such compensation simply on the basis that the injury was disproportionately severe in relation to one's own fault or even not one's own fault at all. Perhaps it should, but society might not be able to afford to compensate everyone on that principle, certainly at the level at which such compensation is now paid. The law provides compensation only when the injury was someone else's fault. In order to succeed in his claim, that is what Mr Tomlinson has to prove".

The claim was brought under the Occupiers Liability Act: The County Council, as manager of the Park (and a joint defendant), had for many years pursued a policy of prohibiting swimming or the use of inflatable dinghies or mattresses and there were prominent signs to this effect. Park Rangers would regularly ask people to disengage from swimming although were often ignored or insulted. Leaflets were handed out warning of the dangers of...