Wray v Derry & Strabane District Council
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Maguire J |
| Judgment Date | 18 March 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] NIQB 39 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 18 March 2020 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2020] NIQB 39 Ref:
MAG11087
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
18/03/2020
(subject to editorial corrections)*
2006 No 58854
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
________
BETWEEN:
SEAN PAUL WRAY, A MINOR BY HIS MOTHER AND
NEXT FRIEND SHARON WRAY
Plaintiff;
and
DERRY CITY AND STRABANE DISTRICT COUNCIL
Defendant.
________
MAGUIRE J
Introduction
[1] The plaintiff in this case is Sean Paul Wray. He was born on 21 October 1999.
On 29 June 2013, when he was aged 13 and 8 months, he was involved in an accident
at a sports complex in Strabane, County Tyrone. As a result of this, the plaintiff
sustained injuries for which he seeks damages from the Derry City and Strabane
District Council (“the Council”) which is responsible for the complex and is the
defendant in these proceedings. At the date of hearing, the plaintiff was just about
to turn 20 years of age. He is, therefore, no longer a minor.
The Accident
[2] It seems clear that the plaintiff has for long been a keen footballer. Even by
the age of 13, he had become well-known in footballing circles in the north west of
Northern Ireland. It also appears that much of his leisure time was taken up with
playing football.
[3] The plaintiff lived in Strabane and, according to him, often went to play
football at the Melvin Park pitch in the sports complex above. He was, he said, one
of a substantial number of footballers around his age who went there. The attraction
was that the facility at Melvin Park included a multi-use games area which had an
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up-to-date artificial surface. The plaintiff therefore viewed himself as a regular user
of this facility, whether in the afternoons or evenings or at the weekend.
[4] On the day of the plaintiff’s accident he had gone to the facility with a group
of others. It was a Saturday afternoon. His evidence was that, with others, he
arrived at the facility somewhere around 3.30 - 4.30pm. He entered by climbing over
a fence though, as the facility would have been open to 5.00pm, it is unclear as to
why he did not use the normal main access point which would have been open at
that time.
[5] However, that may be, the plaintiff says the accident occurred around 6.30pm
as he was coming out of the facility. By this stage the facility was closed. To exit he
had to climb up and over a fence which was well over 6ft high. He was one of a
group of 10-15 boys who exited in this way.
[6] In order to climb up over the fence he says that he used one foot to climb up
onto a latch type device on the inside door of the locked exit. From this point he
launched himself forward and upwards using the toe of one of his trainers as a
foothold within the wire fence. He then pushed upwards over the fence but on this
occasion, at the top of the fence, he slipped and as a result caught his left arm on the
protruding wires of the fence, so sustaining a painful injury. A friend helped him
after the accident.
[7] It is not in dispute that immediately after the plaintiff’s accident a 999 call was
made to the ambulance service. The call was logged at 18.37.57 hours. An
ambulance arrived nearby within minutes. According to the contemporaneous
record, the following history was taken from the plaintiff:
“Was climbing a 7ft metal fence … at the top his foot
slipped and his left arm got caught … was helped of [sic]
the fence by a friend. [Patient’s] arm was supporting his
body weight”.
Later he confirmed, again according to the contemporaneous note, that his arm had
caught on a metal spike fence. The catching of the arm produced a deep wound.
The Plaintiff’s Claim
[8] The plaintiff seeks damages from the Council in these proceedings. At the
time of the accident he accepts he was a trespasser at the Melvin Sports Centre (“the
Centre”) as it had closed at 5.00pm and, even if he had any right to be there in the
first place, that right had long since expired.
[9] The plaintiff’s claim accordingly is made under the terms of the Occupiers’
Liability (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (“the 1987 Order”).
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