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

• Published date: 07 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Health & Safety, Personal Injury, Professional Negligence
• 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 morning run.

This prosecution follows a fine of '3,000 handed down to a farmer for one count of the same breach by Exeter Magistrates Court in March 2023. In this case, a member of the public was walking his dog on holiday (also on a public footpath) when he was thrown 8ft in the air and trampled repeatedly by a cow. The injuries sustained resulted in a 7-day stay in intensive care.

The Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") noted the importance of avoiding grazing cattle with their young in fields where public footpaths or rights of way are situated. HSE have highlighted that large animals can pose a real risk to people and that even a "gentle knock" from a cow can result in injury. As in any sector, incidents leading to injuries can result in prosecution by HSE. Accordingly, landowners should follow the relevant HSE guidance - including segregating livestock from footpaths and installing appropriate fencing as control measures.

Alternative legal risks:

Landowners and farmers should also be aware of the risk of other actions arising due to issues caused by livestock. For example:

• Section 4 of the Animals Act 1971 sets out that where livestock stray onto the land of another and cause damage (be that physical or the expenses incurred whilst the livestock are recovered), the landowner (or individual in possession of the livestock, should they not be the landowner) will be liable to make good this...