watson v british boxing board of control 2001 case

The Board assumes the, 89. It is not necessary for a supposed tortfeasor to have created the danger himself. 103. After the operation Mr Watson was taken to the intensive care unit where he arrived at 04.45. * The Board failed to ensure that those running the contest knew which hospitals in the vicinity had a neurosurgical capability. In my view the Claimant makes his case on causation when he shows, as he has done, that with the protocol in place he would have been attended from the outset by a doctor skilled in resuscitation, who would have made any necessary inquiries of the neurosurgeons at St. Bartholomews, who would themselves have been on notice. I am left with the clear impression that the Board's medical advisers have not looked outside their personal expertise. In 1991 its income was some 314,000 of which some 51,000 represented licence and application fees and about 224,000 `tournament tax', which I understand to represent a small percentage of the takings at boxing tournaments. 111. There is no statutory basis for this. 73. Later, after referring to Lord Bridge's speech in Caparo at p.261, he said: "Thus when a case fits into a category where the existence of a duty of care and a potential liability in the tort of negligence has already been recognised, the more elusive criteria to which Lord Bridge referred for dealing with cases that go beyond the recognised category of proximity do not arise.". Lord Browne-Wilkinson answered this question in the affirmative. In particular they are boxers. That is true as a fact. 46. It can also result in disturbance of the processes of breathing so that insufficient air is taken into the lungs to ensure adequate oxidation of the blood. The other group of cases involved duties imposed on local authorities in relation to children with special educational needs. Once proximity is established by reference to the test which I have identified, none of the more sophisticated criteria which have to be used in relation to allegations of liability for mere economic loss need to be applied in relation to personal injury, nor have they been in the decided cases.". 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. 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. The duty alleged is a duty owed to a determinate class - professional boxers who are members of the Board. The vessel sailed and sank a few days later with the loss of the cargo. In each case it was alleged that the professional in question negligently failed to diagnose dyslexia. 40. Accordingly, I am left in no doubt that the Board was in breach of its duty in that it did not institute some such system or protocol as Mr Hamlyn was to propose. I now come to the second special feature of this case - the fact that the Board is not charged with having failed itself to provide appropriate medical treatment, but with having failed to impose rules and regulations which would have ensured that others did so. The authority was to act on that advice in deciding what course to adopt in the best interests of the pupil with a learning difficulty. b) A limit on the number of rounds to twelve (Rule 3.7). In these circumstances the Board should owe no greater duty of care than that imposed on a rescuer, that is a duty to exercise reasonable care not to make the situation worse, but no duty to reduce the damage that would have occurred in any event had the rescuer not intervened - see Capital and Counties plc v. Hampshire County Council. In such a case the authority running the hospital is under a duty to those whom it admits to exercise reasonable care in the way it runs it: see Gold v Essex County Council [1942] 2 K.B. The Board had, or had available, medical expertise. Since 1929 the Board has been and continues to be the sole controlling body regulating professional boxing in the United Kingdom. In order that, when complete, the aircraft can obtain first a provisional and then a full certificate of airworthiness, the assembly of the aircraft has to be supervised and checked by an inspector. Most boxers recover very quickly having been knocked down and counted out and most, in fact, are fully conscious, if somewhat dazed, by the time the count reaches ten. e) The rule that any boxer selected to take part in a championship contest shall submit to the Board a satisfactory centralised tomography (CT) brain scan report not less than 28 days before the contest and a further scan report annually, so long as the boxer continues to take part in such contests. It does not seem to me to be profitable to speculate what the position would be if the Board had a statutory function in relation to boxing. 428 Nield J. drew a distinction between a casualty department of a hospital that closes its doors and says no patients can be received, in which case he would, by inference, have held there was no duty of care, and the case before him where the three watchmen, who had taken poison, entered the hospital and were given erroneous advice, where a duty of care arose. Cargo owners sued the classification society N.K.K. 62. i) that it owed no duty of care to Mr Watson; ii) that if it owed the duty alleged, it committed no breach; and. In my judgment the Judge was entitled to conclude that the standard of reasonable care required that there should be a resuscitation facility at the ringside. 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 claim was based upon the alleged negligent failure of the defendant to enforce disciplinary regulations against drunkenness so as to protect the deceased against his own known proclivity for alcohol . Its experience, contacts and resources exceed his own. The medical room should be situated in close proximity to the boxer's dressing rooms and be reasonable accessible to and from the ring. at p.262 which I have set out above. 131. ii) The Board assumed responsibility for determining the details of the medical care and facilities which would be provided by way of immediate treatment of those who received personal injuries while taking part in the activity. Attempts have been made, within Parliament and outside, to bring about the banning of the sport of boxing. Ringside medical facilities were available, but did not provide immediate resuscitation. 87. 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. Thus, it has members who pay membership fees or subscriptions in return for which it provides them with facilities. 1, 43-44, where he said: "It is preferable, in my view, that the law should develop novel categories of negligence incrementally and by analogy with established categories, rather than by a massive extension of a prima facie duty of care restrained only by indefinable `considerations which ought to negative, or to reduce or limit the scope of the duty or the class of person to whom it is owed.". Lord Steyn, however, gave short shrift to an argument based on assumption of responsibility: "Given that the cargo owners were not even aware of N.K.K. Next the Board argued that the presence of an ambulance, with resuscitation equipment, should have satisfied the Judge that this aspect of medical care was adequately provided. The body set up by the Board that gave particular consideration to safety standards was a Medical Committee, sometimes referred to as The Medical Panel, that was set up in 1950. This ground of appeal would have been unsustainable. contains alphabet). He held that he was left in no doubt that the Board was in breach of its duty in that it did not institute some such system or protocol as that which Mr Hamlyn was later to propose. Moreover, the tendering of any advice will in many cases involve interviewing and, in the case of doctors, examining the child. "As a general rule a sufficient relationship will exist when someone possessed of a special skill undertakes to apply that skill for the assistance of another person who relies upon such skill and there is direct and substantial reliance by the plaintiff on the defendant's skill. 113. The Board assumes the responsibility of determining the nature of the medical facilities and assistance to be provided. The judgment is attacked root and branch. By then, so he submitted, the evidence established that the damage would have been done. It is worth setting out the passage of the report of the Board's expert, Dr Cartlidge, which dealt with this aspect of the case. In order to explain these allegations, I propose to summarise the evidence on: * the nature of injuries such as those suffered by Mr Watson; * the manner in which such injuries were treated in hospital in 1991; * the manner in which such injuries should have been treated at the ringside and. The Judge's reference to Mr Hamlyn was to a Neurosurgeon who operated on Mr Watson at St Bartholomew's Hospital and who gave evidence on his behalf at the trial. Even absent such an express requirement, it seems to me that if the protocol had been in place, the doctors present should have been aware of the desirability of examining Mr Watson's condition in the circumstances that had occurred, whether or not the rules expressly required this. .Cited Portsmouth Youth Activities Committee (A Charity) v Poppleton CA 12-Jun-2008 The claimant was injured climbing without ropes (bouldering) at defendants activity centre. Nothing that I have heard persuades me that there was any impracticality, whether in terms of manpower or in cost to the promoters, in the Board having included such a requirement in their rules. The role of Mr Usherwood was distinct and independent from the role of the constructor of the plane. In the second case he reached the following conclusions of principle at p.766: "In my judgment a school which accepts a pupil assumes responsibility not only for his physical well being but also for his educational needs. 99. 9. It did not summon medical assistance and its supervision of him was inadequate". The aircraft crashed and the Plaintiff sustained personal injuries. Ian Kennedy J. equated the formulation of rules and regulations with the giving of advice and these decisions are of relevance in this context. He sued the owner, Mr Usherwood and the Popular Flying Association ("the PFA"). Michael Watson MBE, born 15 March 1965, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984-1991. In such circumstances A's conduct can accurately be described as the assumption of responsibility for B, whether `responsibility' is given its lay or legal meaning. Letang v Cooper - Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - Watson v British Boxing Board of Control - Bernstein of Leigh v Skyviews & General Ltd -. 83. After recovering consciousness, he sued the BBBC in negligence, and was awarded approximately 1 million by the High Court of Justice, who determined that the relationship between the BBBC and Watson was sufficient to create a duty of care. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control (1999) (QBD) During a professional boxing contest, the claimant suffered a sub-dural haemorrhage resulting in irreversible brain damage which left him with, among other things, a left-sided partial paralysis. 24. The child has a learning difficulty. 122. JURISDICTION TO INTERPRET A FEDERATION'S RULES OF PROCEDURE IN DOPING CASES41 a) Case of Smith v International Triathlon Union (Supreme Court of British Colombia, Vancouver, It shall be adequately lit, have an examination couch and possess hot and cold running water. In particular, the Board controlled the medical assistance that would be provided. It seems to me that the authorities support a principle that, where A places himself in a relationship to B in which Bs physical safety becomes dependant upon the acts and omissions of A, As conduct can suffice to impose on A a duty to exercise reasonable care for Bs safety. and Had the board simply given advice to all involved in professional boxing as to appropriate medical precautions, it would be strongly arguable that there was insufficient proximity between the board and individual boxers to give rise to a duty of care. [7] Paying the compensation granted to Watson, which was eventually reduced to 400,000, led to the BBBC selling their London headquarters and moving to Wales. It is supplied to amateur flyers in a kit form which they can then assemble for themselves. He should certainly carry an aphygomamometer and stethoscope, an ophthalmoscope, an auroscope, a patella hammer, a Brooks airway and a padded spatula in case of a rate occurrence of fitting and the need to establish an airway. [3] Kennedy held that there was a "sufficient nexus" between Watson and the BBBC to create a duty of care, and that Watson's consent to the fight (which would normally be considered a defence of volenti non fit injuria) was not a consent to the inadequate safety measures. Had the Board said nothing, it might not be liable, but once it gave advice by setting rules, it came to be responsible. It was the evidence of Mr Watson's experts that, while brain damage of the type I have described is cumulative, what happens in the first ten minutes is particularly critical. An ambulance should be on site from the start of the tournament, possibly with a crew of trained para-medics. Saville L.J. 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". 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. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control (2001). 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. If Mr Watson has no remedy against the Board, he has no remedy at all. Moreover, it is clear that no such duty of care exists, even though there may be close physical proximity, simply because one party is a doctor and the other has a medical problem which may be of interest to both". The plaintiff's allegation is that during this process an alternative gearbox was fitted without the appropriate and corresponding substitution of a propeller which matched the substituted gearbox. No one can take part, in any capacity, in professional boxing in this Country who is not licensed by the Board and, at the same time, a member of it, for the two are essentially synonymous. Sharpe v Avery [1938] 4 All E.R. A doctor, an accountant and an engineer are plainly such a person. The Board was involved in an activity which gave it, not merely a measure of control, but complete control over and a responsibility for a situation which would be liable to result in injury to Mr Watson if reasonable care was not exercised by the Board. Michael Watson was injured in a boxin Before making any decision, you must read the full case report and take professional advice as appropriate. To my mind it is difficult in such a situation to profess a concern for safety and to deny a duty such as I have described. The hospital should be requested to confirm that a Neuro-Surgeon would be on stand-by. 3.9 each boxer must be examined after every contest and a report sent to the Board or Area Council concerned if necessary. 15. 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. Treatment that should have been provided at the ringside. 9.39.3 (added to the Rules on 25 May 1991)). 85) or a producer may be liable for the absence of an adequate warning on the labelling of his product (e.g. He could have been treated on the spot, and had an endotrachael tube inserted, been ventilated and thereafter transferred directly to a Neurosurgical Unit where CT scan facilities were available. Since the seminal case of Condon v Basi [1985] . The patient can then be taken straight to the nearest neurosurgical unit. In these circumstances, it is no cause for surprise that the equipment was not in fact used. At the end of December 1991 the net assets of the Board were about 352,000. CLUE. So far I have not dealt with the question of reliance by Mr Watson on the exercise of care by the Board. Mr Morris, commenting in his Witness Statement on the Statement of Claim, stated: "We do collaborate with the medical profession, indeed we believe that our Rules are as good as currently can be devised, taking into account the medical interests of the boxers, and the requirements of the sport itself. "There is always a risk, and the pool from which professional boxers tend to be recruited is unlikely to be one with an innate or well-informed concern about safety, and one may ask why should the individual boxer not rely on the Board's arrangements? Watson successfully sued the BBBC for 400,000 after being left with brain injuries following his 1991 fight with Chris Eubank. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control[2001] QB 1134was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Walesthat established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the personand an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence. He went on to hold that, in relation to the child abuse cases, the statutory scheme was incompatible with the existence of a direct common law duty of care owed by the local authorities. 503 at p.517, per Lord Justice Cotton). Thus the criteria identified by Hobhouse L.J. the concern of the Board for the physical safety of boxers is reflected in many of the Board's rules and regulations. For these reasons I would dismiss this appeal. Match. 10. The L.A.S. There are, however, authorities dealing with advice given to third parties that foreseeably resulted in injury to the person or property of claimants. about 23.01. I found this submission unrealistic. The Board, however, went far beyond this. 60. Michael Alexander Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd, World Boxing Organisation Incorporated: CA 19 Dec 2000 The claimant was seriously injured in a professional boxing match governed by rules established by the defendant's rules. In the final round, Watson lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital, arriving there nearly half an hour after the end of the fight and received resuscitation treatment. This sequence can result in cumulative damage to the brain, leading sooner or later to death. He was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance which was standing by which took him to North Middlesex Hospital. 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. (Vowles v Evans and the Welsh Rugby Union Ltd [2003] EWCA Civ 318), governing bodies for failing to provide in their rules for appropriate medical provision at ringside in a boxing match (Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134), . It seems to me that the authorities support a principle that where A places himself in a relationship to B in which B's physical safety becomes dependent upon the acts or omissions of A, A's conduct can suffice to impose on A, a duty to exercise reasonable care for B's safety. In this case the following matters are particularly material: 1. ii) to identify any categories of cases in which these principles have given rise to a duty of care, or conversely where they have not done so. a) Requirements as to protective covering for the ring floor and the corners (Rule 3.4). held that. is darth vader more powerful than palpatine; modern warplanes mod apk unlimited money and gold 2022 He suffered severe brain damage after being injuredduring a match. 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. The purpose of his assessment was to enable him to give expert advice to the education authority about the child. Held: The respondent had not assumed a general responsibility to all road users . I agree that this appeal should be dismissed for the reasons given by Lord Phillips M.R. He contended that they were in breach of this duty with the consequence that he did not receive the immediate medical attention at the ringside that his condition required. If it was held liable it might withdraw from its work, or have to pass on the cost of increased insurance to the detriment of small aircraft operators. 88. Mr Watson brought an action against the Board. In support of that proposition Mr. Walker relied upon X v Bedfordshire CC and Stovin v Wise [1996] AC 923. 293.". There is no doubt that once the relationship of doctor and patient or hospital authority and admitted patient exists, the doctor or the hospital owe a duty to take reasonable care to effect a cure, not merely to prevent further harm. He did so, notwithstanding, so it was alleged, that the mismatch between gearbox and propeller made the aircraft unairworthy. 44. The duty will be owed to the victim of a road accident who is received by the hospital unconscious. They support the proposition that the act of undertaking to cater for the medical needs of a victim of illness or injury will generally carry with it the duty to exercise reasonable care in addressing those needs. Indirect Influence on the Occurrence of Injury. "One can summarise the aims of treatment of a patient who has been rendered unconscious as the result of a head injury as follows: 1. In the second place it was not practical to use this equipment while the ambulance was on the move. 23. . That phrase can be misleading in that it can suggest that the professional person must knowingly and deliberately accept responsibility. Medical knowledge does not enable one to say what, on the balance of probabilities, would have been the outcome if the protocol had been in place and followed. Mr Usherwood had authority, under an Order made pursuant to the Civil Aviation Act 1982 to certify that the aircraft was fit to fly. c) Rules governing bandaging for the hands and the composition of boxing gloves (Rules 3.22 and 3.23). Mr Watson was one of a defined number of boxing members of the Board. Mr Walker also suggested that a finding in favour of Mr Watson in this case would involve postulating that other sporting regulatory bodies, such as the Rugby Football Union, owed duties of care to the participants in their sports in relation to their rules and regulations. It would seem impossible to contend that the plaintiff would not be affected by the decisions and plans drawn up by the architect.". 2. "In Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Management Committee [1969] 1 Q.B. 71. In X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council [1995] 2 AC 633 five appeals were heard together by the House of Lords because they raised, by way of preliminary issues, similar questions about the duty of care. 90. 68. The local council had waived a requirement that the balustrade meet the . 3. In consequence this special need was not addressed, to the detriment of the child. 28. 3. The police have been held to owe no duty to respond to a 999 call or, having done so, to exercise reasonable care to prevent a burglary Alexandrou v. Oxford [1993] 4 All ER 328 [1994] 4 All ER 328. Capital and Counties plc v. Hampshire County Council, Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority. The article examines this regulatory framework; where traditional attitudes about the social desirability of sport and acceptance of harm support an autonomous self-regulatory approach, often insulated from the full application of the criminal law. In his Witness Statement Mr John Morris, General Secretary of the Board said "The Board believes as I do, that the safety of the boxers is of great importance and takes precedence over commercial and other interests". 64. First he submitted that the Board exercises a public function which it has assumed for the public good. Lord Nicholls posed and answered the following question at p.802: "Take a case where an educational psychologist is employed by an education authority. There was evidence that the Board's Medical Committee met regularly to consider medical precautions. IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE Case No: QBENF1999/1137/A2, (1) BRITISH BOXING BOARD OF CONTROL LIMITED, (2) WORLD BOXING ORGANISATION INCORPORATED, (Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of, Smith Bernal Reporting Limited, 190 Fleet Street, Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -, Mr C Mackay, QC and Mr Neil Block (instructed by Myers Fletcher & Gordon) appeared on behalf of the Respondent/Claimant. At this stage it is enough to note that the advice set out the professional expertise expected of the medical officers and details of equipment needed to perform their duties. The material passages of this advice were as follows:-. We do not provide advice. In my judgment there is a difference in principle between making Rules and giving advice, but it is not one which assists the Board. 130. 65. The local hospital was close to the boxing ring and therefore the transfer occurred very quickly and during this period of time, as far as I can ascertain, his condition was satisfactory and the insertion of an endotrachael tube was not absolutely necessary. The board lost its. Mr Walker's challenge to these findings was based on a single point. Similarly, in the case of the advisory teacher brought in to advise on the educational needs of a specific pupil, if he knows that his advice will be communicated to the pupil's parents he must foresee that they will rely on such advice. See Hedley Byrne & Co. Ltd. v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465 and Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd [1995] 2 AC 145. 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. He did not, however, identify any obvious stepping stones to his decision. ", 38. His evidence was that it was his practice to use it where a patient was experiencing breathing difficulties. Use our proprietary AI tool CaseIQ to find other relevant judgments with just one click. The defendant appealed against a finding of 25% responsibility in having failed to warn climbers that the existence of thick foam would not remove all . 92. 3. Resuscitation equipment should be at ringside along with person(s) capable of using it". 129. One group of cases involved statutory duties imposed on local authorities for the purpose of protecting children from child abuse. 3.5.2 For British and Commonwealth Championship contests only, or But at the same time it countenances and gives its blessing to contests where the safety arrangements are those of its making. A boxer member of the Board would not be aware of the details of all these matters.

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