Case Summaries
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Bratty v AG for Northern Ireland
Example case summary. Last modified: October 4, 2021
Failure to discharge onus of proof in relation to defence of automatism. The appellant (B) was convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old girl. In his statement to the police, he said that he had been overcome with a “terrible feeling” and a “sort of blackness” during the event….
Bigos v Bousted
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The defendant, Bousted, wanted to support his wife while she stayed in Italy for her health. He agreed with the defendant that in return for a……
Butler Machine Tool v Ex-Cell-O Corporation – 1979
Example case summary. Last modified: October 26, 2021
The court allowed the buyer’s appeal. The court found that the buyer’s order was not an acceptance of the initial offer from the seller but a counter-offer which the sellers had accepted by returning the signature section of the buyer’s letter….
Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861……
Barrett v Halifax Building Society
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
A possession order granted to the respondents over the applicant’s home was suspended to allow the applicants time to find a purchaser for the property….
Combe v Combe – 1951
Example case summary. Last modified: September 30, 2021
During the divorce process, a husband promised to pay his wife a tax-free sum of £100 each year to represent a permanent maintenance payment. The wife was aware that the husband was not in a good financial state and made no claim to this payment….
Brown v NCB
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
An electrician was employed in a coal mine. A damaged tub was sent up a haulage in the drift and, on the way up, collided with……
Crown River Cruises v Kimbolton Fireworks – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: January 5, 2021
The defendants, Kimbolton Fireworks, carried out a short firework display that lasted for some twenty minutes or so. As a result of the fireworks display……
Butterfield V Forrester (1809) 103 E.R. 926
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Case Summary of Butterfield V Forrester (1809) 103 E.R. 926. The establisment of contributory negligence….
Caparo v Dickman Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: August 26, 2025
Case Summary of Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] UKHL 2. The tripartite test in establishing duty of care. Caparo is the landmark case which has created the tripartite test in establishing duty of care….
D & C Builders v Rees
Example case summary. Last modified: September 30, 2021
The builders sought payment from Rees for building work done and materials supplied in respect of alterations and repairs completed on Rees’ shop. Rees did not pay, but the work continued and a second bill was issued….
Countess of Dunmore v Alexander (1830) 9 S. 190
Example case summary. Last modified: December 22, 2020
The Countess of Dunmore (C) was looking to change servant and wrote to Lady Agnew (LA) requesting information on the character of one of her servants……
Criminal Law Case Summaries
Example case summary. Last modified: September 7, 2021
The defendant, Bree (B), visited his brother and went for an evening out with him and others, including the complainant (C). All present consumed considerable quantities of alcohol, before returning to B’s brother’s home….
Conway v George Wimpey & Co Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
Conway (C) was on his way to work on an aerodrome when he hailed a lorry belonging to the George Wimpey & Co Ltd (W) and driven by one of their……
Capital and Counties v Hampshire CC
Example case summary. Last modified: January 5, 2021
The decision is on three conjoined appeals from three separate decisions. Hampshire County Council (HCC) – the defendant, appealed a decision that the……
Bowles v Bank of England – 1913
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Mr Bowles purchased a high number of Irish Land Stock which was transferred to his name in Bank of England books. The Committee of the House of Commons……
Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed v Veitch
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The appellants produced cloth, obtaining their yarn from the mainland – unlike other yarn spun in the mills of Stornoway. The respondents worked for the……
Cheltenham & Gloucester v Krausz
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The respondent borrowers had fallen into arrears on their mortgage payments. They applied for an order suspending a warrant for possession……
Brinkibon v Stahag Stahl – 1983
Example case summary. Last modified: October 26, 2021
The complainants, Brinkibon Ltd, were a company that was based in London. They were buying steel from the defendants, Stahag Stahl, who were sellers based in Austria….
British Economical Lamp Co v Empire Mile End Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The claimant let electrical lamp fittings to lessees of a theatre. The lamps were attached to their brackets using a bayonet attachment….
Chester v Afshar – 2004
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
Establishing causation following consent to medical treatment and subsequent injury. The claimant Chester, had managed with bad back pain for several years, which severely limited her ability to walk around and interfered with her ability to control her bladder….
BS & N Ltd v Micado
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Ship owners chartered a vessel, The Seaflower, to charterers to carry oil. Clause 46 required major oil companies’ approvals and stipulated that……
British Road Services v Arthur Crutchley
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The plaintiff transported a lorry load of whisky by road and delivered it to a warehouse owned by the defendant. Upon arrival, the whisky was unloaded……
Blundell v St Andrew’s School 2007
Example case summary. Last modified: September 6, 2021
Maternity leave – right to return to work – ‘same job’. The claimant teacher had taught a reception class before taking maternity leave. Upon her return, she was offered a role either as a floating teacher or taking a class of older children….
Burton v Camden LBC
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Burton and another person held a joint tenancy for a property which was protected per statute as a periodic secure tenancy under……
Case Summaries on Burglary
Example case summary. Last modified: September 7, 2021
Criminal law case summaries covering and burglary and aggravated burglary. R v Brown – A witness, having heard the sound of breaking glass, saw the defendant partially inside a shop front display. …
Cassidy v Ministry of Health 1951
Example case summary. Last modified: October 4, 2021
The claimant was a patient at a hospital run by the defendant who required routine treatment to set the bones in his wrist. Due to negligence on the part of one of the doctors, the operation caused his fingers to become stiff. …
Coward v Motor Insurance Bureau
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Mrs Coward obtained judgement for damages which was not paid out because Mr Cole’s insurance policy did not provide cover for him to carry pillion……
Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw – 1956
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
The onus and standard of proof in personal injury claims for an employer’s breach of statutory duty. The employee of a dressing shops foundry was exposed to noxious dust from swing grinders, allegedly causing him to contract pneumoconiosis….
Botham v TSB Bank
Example case summary. Last modified: September 21, 2021
In possession proceedings against the appellant numerous items were held to be fixtures and therefore would become the property of the respondent when the property was repossessed….
Bettini v Gye
Example case summary. Last modified: October 4, 2021
Breach of a condition of a contract. The claimant, Alessandro Bettini (a tenor) entered into an agreement with the defendant, Frederick Gye. The terms of that agreement were that Bettini would not perform within 50 miles of London in any venue….
Cattle v Stockton Waterworks
Example case summary. Last modified: October 21, 2021
Stockton Waterworks Co laid down one of their main roads along and under a turnpike road. Private property was either side of the road. The landowner employed Cattle to make a tunnel under the road so he could access his land on the other side of the road easily….
Baker v Willoughby – 1970
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The complainant, Mr Baker, was a pedestrian who had been knocked down by the defendant driving a car in September 1964. The negligent driving by the defendant caused serious injury to his left leg, which left him with mobility problems and unable to work in the labour market as he did before…
Coulthard v Neville Russell – 1998
Example case summary. Last modified: October 21, 2021
The case concerned a claim by three directors of D & H Ltd (the Directors) against Neville Russell (the Auditors) on the grounds that the Auditors had failed in their duty to advise them against their acquisition of shares through a loan from the Company in breach of section 151 of the Companies Act 1985….
Banque Keyser Ullman v Skandia
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The plaintiff bank had made loans against property which the borrower had informed them valuable, and had also taken out insurance policies from the……
Cohen v Cohen – 1929
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Mrs Cohen was unsuccessful in her claim. There was no consideration given for the promise of Mr Cohen because the contract for……
Chahal v UK – Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
C, an Indian citizen, was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK after entering illegally. In 1984 he visited India and……
Curtis v Chemical Cleaning & Dyeing Co – 1951
Example case summary. Last modified: September 29, 2021
Affirms that when a party misrepresents the significance of a term, it ceases to be contractually binding. The claimant, Curtis, took her wedding dress to be cleaned by a professional laundry service, the defendants, the Chemical Cleaning and Dyeing Company….
Cutter v Powell – 1795
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
Partial performance of a contract. Mr. Cutter, a sailor, was hired for a voyage and given a promissory note from his employment that ten days after the ship arrives at Liverpool, he will pay Mr. Cutter a certain sum….
Carslogie Steamship v Norwegian Government
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The complainant’s vessel, Heimgar, was damaged by a collision with the defendant, Carslogie. The defendants admitted negligence and damage and this was not……
Cundy v Lindsay
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
The case concerned whether a mistake as to the identity of a contracting party was so fundamental so as to negate the consent of the other party. The foundation of contract law is premised on mutual agreement, i.e., agreeing on the same thing in the same sense, popularly referred to as consensus ad idem….
Children and Local Authorities | Family Law Study Area | Law Teacher
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Children and Local Authorities. During the first half of the twentieth century the conventional wisdom was that parents knew best, and only in the most extreme cases would parents or society at large tolerate any interference in their……
Avon Insurance v Swire Fraser – Facts
Example case summary. Last modified: January 4, 2021
The claimant was a stop loss insurance company which made a claim against the defendant insurance brokers under the Misrepresentation Act 1967……
Bradford v Robinson Rentals Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
The claimant, Bradford, was an employee of the defendants, Robinson Rentals, and in the course of his employment it was requested that he be sent to assist a colleague in a vehicle repair. …
Carmarthenshire County Council v Lewis
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The claimant in this matter was the wife of a lorry driver killed whilst trying to avoid a child in the road. The child was at school……
Bulk Trading Co v Zenziper Grains
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The buyers, the Bulk Trading Corporation, and the seller, Zenziper, had arranged for the sale of 6,000 tonnes of American corn, which were to be……
Chambers v DPP – 2012
Example case summary. Last modified: October 6, 2021
A 26-year-old man learned that an airport from which he was due to travel was closed due to heavy snow-fall. He responded on Twitter by tweeting: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!”…
Bennet v Bennet – 1879
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
This case concerned a transaction between a mother and her son and the presumption of advancement in equity. Mother, Ann Bennet, wanted to help her……
CTN Cash & Carry Ltd v Gallagher Ltd [1994]
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Gallagher demanded CTN to pay for the cigarettes despite those not being delivered due to Gallagher’s own mistake. Gallagher argued that the risk……
Berkoff v Burchill – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The first defendant was a journalist and, at the time, a film critic for the Sunday Times, while the second defendant was the newspaper’s publisher….
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