Jamie Yates v The National Trust, High
Court, 2014
Facts
The claimant was a tree surgeon, employed by an independent
contractor to fell a diseased tree on National Trust property.
Whilst positioned in a rope harness, he fell roughly 50 metres from
the tree and was left paraplegic.
He claimed that the National Trust owed him a duty of care in
negligence, in failing to choose a reasonably competent independent
contractor or by failing to ensure that a safe system of work was
in place. It was also alleged that because of this the Trust had
breach of its duty under the Occupiers Liability Act.
Held
The court found that although the Trust did owe a duty of care
to the claimant as a legal visitor to the property under the
Occupiers Liability Act (OLA), this was not the relevant duty as
the Claimant was not injured due to the state of the premises but
because of his activity as a tree surgeon.
