Manhole cover that caused Julie Anne’s accident

Julie-Anne O’Hara had visited her local convenience shop, Martin McColl in Windmill Avenue, Conisborough.  When she left the store, she encountered a defect in the surface immediately outside:  a bent and corrupted manhole cover that was not flush with the  pavement surface.  Julie-Anne caught her right foot against the edge of the defect and, losing her footing, tripped over the manhole cover. She suffered an ankle injury that lasted for around 18 months.

McColls has a duty of care to maintain the area

Feeling that the accident had not been her fault, Julie-Anne contacted Graysons to see if she could claim compensation, and Tracey took up her case.  Tracey contacted the occupier of the premises saying that they:

• Should have reasonably foreseen that customers would have to walk on the damaged area outside of the shop.
• Owed visitors a common duty of care to ensure that the premises were reasonably safe to use.
• Should have carried out a risk assessment of the area, which would have identified the defect, after which they should have:
  • Replaced or repaired the manhole cover, or,
  • Warned visitors of the defect.

Tracey pursues McColls for negligence

Tracey Dickinson

Tracey claimed that Julie-Anne had tripped over a manhole cover and injured herself due to McColl’s breach of statutory duty and/or negligence by exposing her to the hazard. McColls initially denied that it owned the land where the accident took place, suggesting Tracey should contact the council.  However, after carrying out a Land Registry search, Tracey found that McColls did indeed own the land and she issued court proceedings.  McColls continued to deny responsibility, relying on the facts of the case of McGeown V Northern Ireland Housing Executive (which concluded that a person using a public right of way is not owed a duty of care by the owner of the soil over which the right of way passes to maintain the right of way in a safe condition), saying that the land formed part of a public right of way.  However, Tracey was able to negotiate with the company which eventually agreed to pay compensation for Julie-Anne’s pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

If you have had an accident in a public place and want to know if you can claim compensation, contact our personal injury experts now.  We will assess your case and let you know if we can help you to make a claim.

You can find out more about accidents in public places or any other type of accident or personal injury on our web pages.