Francesca Martin obtained an excellent result for the claimant in Cavell v Centaur Construction LTD. The trial took place in the week commencing 6th July before Deputy High Court Judge Alegre in the King’s Bench Division of the Royal Courts of Justice.
The case concerned serious injuries sustained by the Claimant when he was run over by a dumper truck, which he had been driving. The Claimant had used a shortcut to keep the engine running as he alighted, specifically having the seatbelt plugged in behind his back to avoid the engine cutting out. The judgment was concerned with liability only; quantum having been agreed.
The main issue the Court had to determine was whether the Claimant had adopted the unsafe shortcut of his own accord or had been taught to do so by his supervisor. He faced a wall of lay witness evidence from the Defendant company, all having closed ranks to assert the Claimant had come up with this unsafe practice himself. A key document in issue was a near miss report, which the Defendant relied upon from the day before, suggesting the Claimant had on that occasion left the handbrake of the dumper off.
The Court made a strong finding against the Defendant that the near miss document had been fabricated, and that the evidence of the Defendant’s witnesses had been created to conceal responsibility for what was a common practice on the site. It appears the Claimant’s character as a “yes” man, and someone who did not necessarily seek to apply blame outside of professional guidance, featured heavily in the Court reaching the conclusion that he was a credible witness.
Francesca would like to thank both Graham Heywood and Ashtons Legal for their instructions.
A link to the judgment can be found here
