watson v british boxing board of control 2001 case
There was evidence that the Board's Medical Committee met regularly to consider medical precautions. Nearly half an hour elapsed between the end of the fight and the time that he got there. 53. In Marc Rich & Co v. Bishop Rock Ltd [1996] AC 211 a classification surveyor had surveyed a vessel laden with cargo and given it a clean bill of health. The peculiar features of the duty of care alleged are as follows: i) the duty alleged is not to take reasonable care to avoid causing personal injury. Watson v British Boxing Board, above Michael v South Wales Police, above ABC v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust . 40. the British Boxing Board of Control was found to . The brain benefits from the increased supply of oxygen and from a reduction in intra-cranial pressure in so far as this was attributable to excessive carbon dioxide. In fact, it took very much longer than a few minutes to get to the hospital, for reasons that were not identified at the trial. Held: The respondent had not assumed a general responsibility to all road users . In any event I believe that this point vanishes when causation is considered. There was no contract between the parties, but boxers had to fight under the Boards rules. The numbers of those to whom the duty is alleged to be owed in the present case are not incompatible with the requirements of proximity. the Hillsborough cases: e.g. 51. 23. 109. Mr Watson collapsed unconscious within a minute or so of this. change. At this meeting Mr Hamlyn expressed the view that it was vital that at the ringside there should be the right doctors with the right equipment. As already mentioned the referee is in sole charge of the contest, but if a boxer is counted out and fails to rise it is the doctor's duty to get into the ring as quickly as possible and institute emergency treatment should this be required. If such head teacher gives advice to the parents, then in my judgment he must exercise the skills and care of a reasonable teacher in giving such advice. As already stated, no tournament is allowed to commence or continue without one doctor sitting ringside. Each case involved the performance by the local authority of duties imposed under statute for the benefit of children. I consider that the Judge could properly have done so. It was also important to have a prior arrangement with the hospital with a neurological unit, and with that unit placed on standby. about 23.01. 74. Match. Because the facts of this case are so unusual, there is no category in which a duty of care has been established from which one can advance to this case by a small incremental step. Tort Law - Negligence | PDF | Negligence | Damages - Scribd I consider that the Judge was entitled to find on the evidence, that had the Hamlyn protocol been in place, the outcome of Mr Watson's injuries would have been significantly better. (Rules 8.5 and 8.6). 112. Trespass in English law and Related Topics - hyperleap.com Test. "The fact that it was a person who foreseeably would suffer further injuries by a delay in providing an ambulance, when there was no reason why it should not be provided, is important in establishing the necessary proximity and thus duty of care in this case. Each area had a Chief Medical Officer, whose duties included the approval of doctors who wished to serve as medical officers at boxing matches. The rise in pressure inside the skull caused by the haematoma results in distortion of the brain. Negligence in Public Policy Case Summaries - LawTeacher.net The issue in this action is not whether the right policy was adopted but simply whether proper care was used in making provision for medical treatment of Mr Watson. 8. In the second place it was not practical to use this equipment while the ambulance was on the move. The settlement of Watson's case against the. 129. Before making any decision, you must read the full case report and take professional advice as appropriate. The following rules fall into this category: 3.8 The promoter shall procure that two doctors, who must be approved by the Area Medical Officer, attend at all promotions, one of whom must be seated at the ringside at all times during the contest. Mr Morris told the court that he would expect the Medical Committee, and its Chief Medical Officer, to keep abreast of developments in sports medicine that impacted on the safety of boxers in the ring. It has limited liability. In any event it would be quite wrong to determine the result of the individual facts of this case by formulating a principle of general policy that sporting regulatory bodies should owe no duty of care in respect of the formulation of their rules and regulations. Lord Bridge went on to state that these ingredients were insufficiently precise to be used as practical tests and to commend the desirability of proceeding by analogy with established categories of negligence. The Judge was impressed with the fact that, even then, resuscitation would have been commenced at least twenty and probably thirty minutes before in fact it was. 52. 28. Herbert Smith, London. The Board did not insure against liability in negligence. Watson was injured during a fight in 1991 The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) faces a financial crisis after losing its court battle with Michael Watson. He submitted that the Board would presumably owe the same duty to boxers who came from abroad to box and persons who were not yet boxers, and perhaps not even born, when the rules were made. The patient is then artificially ventilated through this tube with oxygen. 125. The professionals were employed or retained to advise the local authority in relation to the well being of the plaintiffs but not to advise or treat the plaintiffs". The vessel sailed and sank a few days later with the loss of the cargo. The subject matter of the advice and activities of the professionals is the child. The comparison drawn by Mr Walker between the Board and a rescuer is not apt. Thus Mr Watson voluntarily submitted to any risk associated with inadequacy of medical safeguards. She claimed in negligence and occupiers liability. [1988] 1 AC 1074 at 1090; and Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority [1987] 1 AC 750 at 783. * the treatment actually provided to Mr Watson. The medical room should be situated in close proximity to the boxer's dressing rooms and be reasonable accessible to and from the ring. 95. In the leading judgment Hobhouse L.J. Herbert Smith, London. The Judge's findings in relation to breach of duty appear from the following passages in his judgment: "The standard response where the presence of subdural bleeding is known or suspected has been agreed since at least 1980, which is to intubate, ventilate, sedate, paralyse, and in Britain at least, to administer Manitol. rejected the submission that any negligence on the part of Mr Usherwood was only an indirect cause of the crash. He gave evidence that the WBO imposed no medical requirements in respect of the fight and that in these circumstances, the ordinary Board rules and policy would and did apply. In these circumstances the claim against Mr Usherwood was a conventional claim for carelessness causing direct and foreseeable personal injury. Boxing members of the Board, including Mr Watson, could reasonably rely upon the Board to look after their safety. He gave evidence that he agreed with Mr Hamlyn's views. Dr Ross, who was a member of the Medical Committee for a number of years before the Watson fight, was asked whether he remembered discussions about treatment in the ring of head injuries before that fight. (Compare also Clay v AJ Crump & Sons Ltd [1964] 1 QB 533 in which an architect had complete control over whether a dangerous wall was left standing and Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd [2001] QB 1134 in which the Board had control over the medical services provided at boxing matches.) In Caparo v Dickman the Court recognised a duty of care owed by auditors to all the members of a company. Mon 8 Oct 2001 12.23 EDT Michael Watson will receive no more than 400,000 compensation in settlement of a damages claim worth up to 2.5m. Held: A certifying . This seems to me to be, on its face, an example par excellence of a situation where the law will regard the professional as owing a duty of care to a third party as well as his own employer.". Letang v Cooper - Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - Watson v British Boxing Board of Control - Bernstein of Leigh v Skyviews & General Ltd -. It is on this basis that it is possible to draw a distinction between the doctor who goes to the assistance of the victim of a road accident and the hospital that receives that victim into its casualty department. Try and prevent and/or treat raised intracranial pressure. 130. In my judgment there is a difference in principle between making Rules and giving advice, but it is not one which assists the Board. The L.A.S. Thereafter, when the defendant assumed responsibility for him, it accepts that the measures taken fell short of the standard reasonably to be expected. His answer was that he was sure that these things were discussed but he could not remember. The nature of that duty was recently considered by this Court in Capital and Counties PLC v. Hampshire C.C. This may entail suturing of a wound, the assessment of the seriousness of any injury or maybe just simple advice concerning future training or contests. The child was in a singularly vulnerable position. Next Mr Walker argued that the Board did not create the danger of injury or the need for medical assistance. Match. The Judge held that it was the duty of the Board, and of those advising it on medical matters, to be prospective in their thinking and to seek competent advice as to how a recognised danger could best be combated. In Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd,l the Court of Appeal has upheld an unprecedented decision that a regulatory body can be liable for negligence in the exercise of its rule-making functions. It seems to me that this is almost implicit in Mr Walker's argument that to issue such a requirement expressly, was to instruct a doctor as to how to perform his duty. Michael Watson was a boxer who, on 21 September 1991, fought Chris Eubank under the supervision of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), the British professional boxing governing body. He emphasised that the Board does not provide medical treatment or employ doctors. Lord Steyn stated:-, "Since the decision in Dorset Yacht Co. v The Home Office [1970] AC 1004, it has been settled law that the elements of foreseeability and proximity as well as considerations of fairness, justice and reasonableness are relevant to all cases whatever the nature of the harm sustained by the plaintiff..". . In other words, as there were no circumstances which made it unfair or unreasonable or unjust that liability should exist, there is no reason why there should not be liability if the arrival of the ambulance was delayed for no good reason. He criticised the Judge for saying that there was no difference in principle between "giving advice about safety and laying down rules to provide for safety". I would simply comment that if the Board were given the statutory function of directing what medical assistance should be provided to boxers at the stadium, I consider that it would be at least arguable that they owed boxers a duty of care in exercising that function. Since 1929 the Board has been and continues to be the sole controlling body regulating professional boxing in the United Kingdom. . .Cited Calvert v William Hill Credit Ltd ChD 12-Mar-2008 The claimant said that the defendant bookmakers had been negligent in allowing him to continue betting when they should have known that he was acting under an addiction. a) Requirements as to protective covering for the ring floor and the corners (Rule 3.4). Indirect Influence on the Occurrence of Injury. As a result of the delay the patient sustained brain damage. The Board's authority is essentially based upon the consent of the boxing world. In this way the Board reduces this aspect of the promoter's responsibility to the boxer to the contractual obligation to comply with the requirements of the Board's Rules in relation to the provision of medical facilities and assistance. This care was insufficient, and as such Watson was in a coma for 40 days, and spent 6 years in a wheelchair. As for the argument that the local authorities were vicariously liable for negligence on the part of those giving them advice, Lord Browne-Wilkinson held at pp.752-3: "The claim based on vicarious liability is attractive and simple. If any doubt arises concerning a boxer's condition then referral to a local hospital for emergency treatment or advice should be undertaken and a report sent to the Board. The Board called to give evidence Mr Peter Richards, a Consultant Neuro-Surgeon with Charing Cross Hospital between 1987 and 1995. Mr Watson was one of a defined number of boxing members of the Board. In the event those same procedures could not have been begun before 23.25 at the earliest, to allow some time for an examination after the claimant's recorded time of arrival at the North Middlesex. The aircraft crashed and the Plaintiff sustained personal injuries. 3. Mr Block, the Secretary of the Board's Southern Area Council, reported to the Board that the arrangements in place were satisfactory and that the tournament could receive the Board's approval. Attempts have been made, within Parliament and outside, to bring about the banning of the sport of boxing. His belief was that the brain damage that occurred in each case could probably have been avoided in whole or in a large part if the boxer had received immediate resuscitation at the ringside. The Judge referred (Transcript p.17) to the question of whether to attach a duty of care to the facts of the present case would be an acceptable incremental extension of established liabilities, or too long a step. There is a general reliance by the public on the fire service and the police to reduce those risks. It is supplied to amateur flyers in a kit form which they can then assemble for themselves. In practice the Area Secretary would select the medical officers for a particular contest, albeit that the promoter would pay them. A boxer who suffered brain damage following a title fight in London alleged that the Board which regulates boxing had been negligent in not providing a better level of ringside medical care. In case of any confusion, feel free to reach out to us.Leave your message here. The defendant company had a policy for achieving responsible gambling, . Mr Watson's case can be summarised as follows: i) The Board assumed responsibility for the control of an activity the essence of which was that personal injuries should be sustained by those participating.