Train Guard Not At Fault For Drunken Passenger Fall

The English Court of Appeal has handed down a judgment in the case Whiting v First/Keolis Transpennine Limited 2018 EWCA Civ 4. Keolis was an appeal against a judge's finding of fact in a personal injury claim and his subsequent dismissal of the case. The decision will be of interest to those operating in the transport sector as it provides useful clarification of the duty of care owed by train guards to members of the public.

Background

In February 2010, the appellant, Ian Whiting, was returning by train from a football match. Mr Whiting claimed that he was so inebriated that he could not recall any of the incident. Whiting left the train at the station when the train door opened and he leant on a wall of the station building resting his head there. Mr Stitt, the train guard on duty performed the necessary checks before getting back on to the train and signalling to the driver it was safe to depart. It later transpired that Whiting had fallen between two of the