The High Court found Iqbal Joosub, Ciaran Callan and Dublin City Council liable in negligence for water damage to an adjoining property at 17 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin, and ordered judgment against each defendant for €530,000.
The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan on 23 February 2006, concerns water entering No. 17 from a hole in the roof of adjoining No. 16. A fire in August 1998 left the hole, which grew over time. It was not repaired until February 2001.
The plaintiffs, Leo Larkin, Travelowen Limited (in voluntary liquidation) and Margaret Larkin, owned No. 17 as an investment property let in units. They claimed the cost of repairs and lost rent. The parties agreed, without admission of liability, that those losses totalled €530,000: €275,000 for remedial works and €255,000 for rental losses.
The court found that Joosub and the estate interest represented by Callan failed to arrange adequate inspections or repair the roof while they owned No. 16. The judge found their agent was probably aware of the hole after the fire. The property vested in Dublin City Council in September 2000. The Council knew about the hole and the damage to No. 17, but did not repair the roof until February 2001 despite an October 2000 report calling for urgent work. The Council was also responsible for its contractor’s negligence when the roofs were left exposed during heavy rain in February 2001.
The judge found all defendants liable for the same damage as concurrent wrongdoers. She also found that each had continued a nuisance by failing to take reasonable steps to end the water ingress. The alternative claims under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher and the Derelict Sites Act were not decided because the negligence and nuisance claims resolved liability.
The defendants argued that the plaintiffs had failed to mitigate their losses. The judge found no reduction was warranted: although the plaintiffs did not contact Joosub after obtaining his address in February 2000, the evidence did not show that he would probably have arranged repairs before the Council took ownership. The court also rejected the contention that Larkin had deliberately misled it or that the claim had been deliberately exaggerated. It left open whether the plaintiffs’ failure to investigate possible rot earlier could affect costs, pending submissions.
For contribution between defendants, the judge determined that Joosub and Callan jointly should bear 50% and the Council 50%. She said she would hear counsel on the precise form of that contribution order. The judgment does not record the later form of the order.