The Stakes Are High - Liability Considerations For Landowners And Farmers Keeping Livestock

• Published date: 07 September 2023
• Law Firm: Burges Salmon
• Author: Eleanor Parsons

We consider the recent HSE prosecutions arising out of cattle attacks on members of the public and alternative legal risks for landowners keeping livestock

Bristol Crown Court recently fined a landowner '15,000 (with an additional '8,000 payable for costs) for two breaches of s3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for a failure to ensure that the risks to members of the public caused by their cattle were controlled.

The prosecution arose out of two separate incidents in 2021 where the landowner's cattle injured members of the public, who were using public footpaths on the land. The first incident saw a dog walker attacked by several cattle - resulting in a fractured shoulder and broken ribs. The second incident occurred just a few weeks later when a local member of the public sustained significant injuries including concussion, dislocated shoulders, broken ribs and vertebrae - again caused by the cattle - whilst out on a...