In the UK, members of the public can claim compensation if they have been injured as a result of another’s negligence, as long as it can be proven that the other party did not take ‘reasonable care’ to prevent the injury from occurring.
This wasn’t always the case. The ability to claim compensation was a lot more unattainable in the past, and it took the might of a certain snail to bring us into the modern era of personal injury compensation claims. The name of the case that changed things was Donoghue v Stevenson.
How a snail changed British law
In 1928, compensation claims for negligence could only be made under specific circumstances, such as when a contract existed between two parties, or it could be proven that a manufacturer was acting fraudulently or producing something dangerous.
When May Donoghue walked into Wellmeadow cafe in Paisley, Scotland, on August 26 that year, her friend had bought her a drink. May had not bought the drink herself, so she had not entered into a contract when she began to tuck into her pear and ice cream ginger beer ‘float’.
It was alleged that at the point that May poured the ginger beer from its dark, opaque bottle and into her glass, the decomposing remains of a snail dropped out with it. Following the incident, May went to a doctor complaining of stomach pains and the doctor diagnosed gastroenteritis and shock.
Would anyone take on the case?
As the law stood, May could not claim compensation – she had not entered into a contract, the ginger beer could not be described as dangerous, and the manufacturer had not acted fraudulently.
Even May’s friend had not entered into a contract with the ginger beer manufacturer, only with the cafe owner. Most solicitors would have assumed there was no case. But Walter Leechman, a solicitor who had already bought two cases against drinks manufacturer AG Barr, and lost, did take it on. He issued a writ against the manufacturer, David Stevenson.
Outcome – a judgement at the House of Lords
By December 10, 1931, the case had gone all the way to the House of Lords, with the counsel arguing that if a manufacturer puts their product on the market in a form which doesn’t allow it to be inspected, they are liable to pay for any damages.
On May 26, 1932, Lord Atkin of Aberdovey ruled in favour of May Donoghue, and Stevenson was ordered to pay her £200 in compensation.
In a ruling which changed the course of British law and created one of the most famous cases of all time, he said: ‘The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law You must not injure your neighbour ; and the lawyer s question: Who is my neighbour? receives a restricted reply.
‘You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.’
The judgement was based around the parable of the Good Samaritan and the Christian concept of ‘love thy neighbour’. The term could now be applied to virtually any kind or relationship in any circumstances, giving huge scope for negligence cases, and far more power to the consumer to claim compensation following an injury.
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