A victory for the Royal British Legion
7 March 2007
Jeremy Pendlebury appeared in the Court of Appeal on behalf for The Royal British Legion in their successful appeal in the case of Cole -v- Davies Gilbert & The Royal British Legion.
The Court of Appeal dismissed an estimated £150,000 damages claim against the Royal British Legion bought by Yvonne Cole who broke her leg after falling into a hole near the war memorial on the village green at East Dean in Sussex. The hole had been specially dug in about 1977 to house the village maypole and was filled in again after each use. It had been last exposed for use at a village fete in the summer of 1999, but had been filled in afterwards. At some time shortly before her accident, the hole had become exposed again.
The court heard that the Legion had run the annual village fetes, which last featured maypole dancing at the summer fete of 1999. In April 2001, Mrs. Cole tripped over the hole as she walked across the green. In November 2005, Judge Simpkiss sitting at Brighton County Court ruled that the Legion was liable to pay compensation to Mrs. Cole for her injuries (the amount of the compensation to be decided at a later hearing) on the basis that they were responsible for the exposed hole. The Court of Appeal agreed with the Royal British Legion that they had filled the hole in adequately after the 1999 fete and were not responsible for the recent exposure of the hole.
Commenting on the case Jeremy Pendlebury said:
"I'm pleased that this appeal by the Royal British Legion succeeded. The Court of Appeal accepted that the Royal British Legion could not be permanently responsible for the integrity of the filling in of the hole after the 1999 fete, a proposition for which Mrs Cole had contended. The evidence showed that the filling in of the hole was adequate in the circumstances and the Court of Appeal held that that fulfilled their duty of care."