The High Court has dismissed Breda Hampson’s personal injury claim against Tipperary County Council over a fall on a footpath, finding that the evidence did not establish negligent construction or design.
Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon delivered the judgment on 25 July 2018. The court treated the case as one of nonfeasance in the Council’s capacity as a local and highway authority. It found that the evidence did not show the footpath had been negligently built or that the Council had interfered with it.
Ms Hampson alleged that her foot became trapped in a hole between concrete kerbs, causing her to fall. The judgment records that she placed the accident on 8 December 2014, while its opening summary refers to an accident on or about 17 December that year. She said her right leg became stuck as she crossed the road and that she fell onto her hands and knees.
The dispute concerned a drainage pipe beneath the footpath, which discharged towards the road through a gap between the kerbs. An engineer for Ms Hampson argued that the pipe was too close to the surface and that vehicles mounting the footpath had likely damaged the kerb and created the hazard. Council evidence was that no work had been carried out on the pipe or drainage at the location in about 30 years, and that the footpath was designed for pedestrians.
The Council argued that the claim was barred by the rule on nonfeasance, as there was no evidence it had repaired the footpath negligently. It also argued that Ms Hampson was contributorily negligent because she had crossed the road and was not watching where she was going. Ms Hampson’s case was that the original drainage design was defective and that vehicle access onto the footpath should have been foreseeable.
The judge found it was not reasonably foreseeable that vehicles would mount the footpath at that location and said the initial design could not be inferred to have been faulty. The court also considered the footpath adequate for pedestrian use by the standards of the time. It said that even if liability had been established, Ms Hampson would have faced a considerable finding of contributory negligence.
The court dismissed the claim. It made no finding of liability against the Council.