Lee v Riley
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 05 May 1865 |
| Date | 05 May 1865 |
| Court | Court of Common Pleas |
English Reports Citation: 144 E.R. 629
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS AND IN THE EXCHEQUER CHAMBER
S. C. 34 L. J. C. P. 212; 12 L. T. 388; 11 Jur. N. S. 527; 13 W. R. 751. Followed, Ellis v. Loftus Iron Company, 1874, L. R. 10 C. P. 12. Discussed, Child v. Hearn, 1874, L. R. 9 Ex. 176; Smith v. Cook, 1875, 1 Q. B. D. 83.
. 14*9- ò*ò 6.3-7*-ò 18C,E(H. g.)m LEE V. RILBY 629 chab.le$ lee, Appellant; samuel riley, Respondent. May 5th, 1865. [S. C. 34 L. J. C. P. 212 ; 12 L. T. 388 ; 11 Jur. N. S. 527 ; 13 W. R. 751. Followed, Ellis v. Loftus /rat Company, 1874, L. H. 10 C. P. L2. Discussed, Child v. Heam, 1874, L. R. 9 Ex. 176; Smith v. Cook, 1875, 1 Q. B. D. 83.] Through defect of fences which it was the defendant's duty to repair, his mare strayed in the night-time from his close into an adjoining field, and so into a field of the plaintiff sin which waa a horse. From some unexplained cause, the animals/iuarrelled, and the result was that the plaintiff's horse received a kick from the defendant's mare, which broke his leg, and he was necessarily killed :-Held, that the defendant waa responsible for his mare's trespass, and that the damage was not too remote. A plaint was entered in the county court of Yorkshire holden at Halifax, by the plaintiff (the now respondent) on the 10th of November, 18G4, whereby he sought to recover the sum of 221. The particulars attached to the summons served upon the defendant (the [723] now appellant) claimed 221. as " the price of a black horse." The action was brought to recover the sum of 221., the value of a horse belonging to the plaintiff, which had had its leg broken in the night-time. The horse had been left safe and sound in the plaintiff's field on the evening of the 25th of October last, and was found the following morning standing there on three legs, the fourth having been broken, as was alleged, by the kick of a horse of the defendant's. The plaint was tried before a jury : and it appeared in evidence that the plaintiff aud defendant occupied two adjoining farms, and that an occupation-road extended from a highway throngh the defendant's farm, of which it formed part, into the plaintiff's farm, where it formed part of the plaintiff's farm, and terminated some two or three fields' length within the farm; that there was a gate across the occupation-road at the point where the two farms adjoined, which belonged to the defendant to repair, and had been erected by the occupier of bis farm immediately preceding him, some seven or eight years ago; and that, being broken in two pieces, the plaintiff had given notice to the defendant to repair it about three weeks before the occurrence which gave rise to the action, and had apprised him that it was his duty to repair it. It appeared further, that the defendant's horses, and particularly a large grey mare of his, had on several occasions passed through this gateway along the plaintiff's portion of the occupation-road, and thence through a small gateway opening from the occupation-road into a meadow field of the plaintiff called the Rye Bank, and thence through a hedge into another field of the plaintiff called the Pasture, being the field in which the plaintiffs horse had been left sound and well on the evening of the day in question ; |hat the last-men-[724]-tioned gateway was a small one (l^ yards wide) for, the plaintiffs eijiws to enter the close called the llye Bank, from the occupation-road ;| and that there jvas a gate reared against the opening, and stones placed against it oij the field side, to support it; but that, if a horse pushed his breast against it, the j gate would fall tlown; and it was in evidence that the defendant's horses (including the grey mare) had on several previous occasions pushed the gate clown, and entered the plaintiffs land through the gap. It further appeared that, on the night before the horse, was found lamed, this gate had been fastened by one of the plaintiff's sons: further, that the hedge separating the two fields of the plaintiff (the Rye Bank and the Pasture) had been of sufficient strength during all the summer previous to prevent the plaintiff's cattle from passing out of one field into the other. This gate was found thrown down, and recent foot-marks of a horse were observed on the morning of the 26th of October on each side of it, and traced across the close called Rye Bank, and through the hedge into the field called the Pasture; and, in the latter field, close to wherethe; plaintiff a horse was found standing on three legs, strong marks: of horses " scuffling?" were observed, and patches of black and of grey hair were found at the same apot, corresponding with the colour of the plaintiff's horse, which was black, anq with that of the defendant's grey mare. The plaintiff's horse was discovered standing on three legs, as before mentioned, at about 8 ofclock on the morning of the 26th of October; and, on being examined by a veterinary surgeon, it waa found that the oft' hind-leg was broken, a compound fricture, and that a piece of the bone had been taken out. The horse was obliged to be killed; 630 LEE V. RILEY 18 C. B. (N. S.) 725. and, on a, post-mortem examination, the boue exhibited an appearance of [725] having been struck, find a piece of it knocked out by a violent blow. Such sho$s as the defendant's grey mare had on, it was in evidence, might have caused it The ordinary shoe of a horse would not have caused the injury; nor could the plaintiff's...
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