What are your thoughts on 'Trespass boy winning damages'?

Question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6900884.stm

Where has sanity gone?

Trucker: I'm not that religious, but is that from Isaiah. If so which verse, I'll read up, because it makes a perverse sense of the insanity.

Answer 1

Unfortunately the law states that the person who owns the land/property owes a duty of care to trespasses, therefore trespasses have rights, human rights although this can and is bizarre.

Answer 2

Sanity has taken an extended leave of absence.

We live in a nanny state. If a burglar enters an office building and falls down the stairs he can claim damages if - for example - the floor was wet and there wasn't adequate signage. Many businesses have insurance to cover such matters but this school clearly doesn't.

My thoughts are that the gate fell on him and he got hurt... it was a painful lesson to learn but he wouldn't do it again. But let's face it he's unlikely to have been the one to take legal action, that would have been his parents. Either way what do you expect when every other advert on tv is for a bottom-feeding law firm that offers to sue anyone and everyone on your behalf? It's utter madness but we live in an age where everything is someone else's fault.

All this kid and his scummy family have achieved is that the school now has to pay higher insurance premiums, which somewhere along the line means that they'll be able to afford one less piece of equipment, or one less outing. They must be so proud.

Answer 3

That's ridiculous in the extreme. Parliament definitely needs to legislate to stop something like that happening again! How long is it until a thief stealing a car claims damages because the car they have stolen has a headlight out and they crash?! It's scandalous.

But please stop attacking the judge in this case - looking at the law as it stands, the occupier of land owes a duty of care to anyone on the land. He just followed the law as it stands: the blame must lie with Parliament who have not acted to change this! I say we all write to our MPs. And perhaps find the boy in this case...

Answer 4

Is that alot of money? I've seen similar cases in the states only worse, where a person breaks into a house with intentions of burgalry and is somehow hurt. Then they guy will sue and win because of a faulty stair or something, it's totally insane!

Answer 5

I always think it is wrong when a person who is breaking the law is awarded damages for an injury sustained while breaking the law.

I have another question, Where were the parents when this child got injured, after hours at a school that he did not attend.

My middle daughter says that the problem with the world today is "lazy parenting" and this is a prime example.

Answer 6

The council should be held responsible for not maintaining the gate and the boy awarded the money but also the boy in question should have been fined the same amount for trespassing.

Answer 7

THe probl;em is that you are responsible for the safety of anyone on your land. You may not set a mantrap. Ithink this particular case is crazy. Th eboy was participating in what could be described as an act of vandalism and so in my view accepted the risks of a badly secured gate when he swung on it. I would fewel differently if the gate was so insecure it fell on him as he passed

Answer 8

Absolutely Barmy.

Answer 9

I think in this case we could learn from Barbados, you can shoot an intruder over there, I am of the belief that soon we will start finding bodies in ditches were people have killed intruders and dumped there bodies, at least they wont have to pay compensation, our glorious legal system at its best again.

Answer 10

Very similar to the women who was awarded tons of money when she got 'burned' on the hot McDonald's coffee.
What a joke!
when are people going to be responsible for their own 'bad behavior'?