Stagecoach South Western Trains Ltd v Hind & Anor
2014
TECHNOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTION COURT
UK
CORAM
- THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE COULSON
Areas of Law
- Tort Law
2014
TECHNOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTION COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The case involves a railway company seeking damages after one of its trains collided with a fallen Ash tree from the garden of a property owned by the first defendant, Ms Kathleen Hind. Claims were also made against the tree surgeon, Mr Andrew Steel, who had carried out work on the property. The court held that while ordinary landowners must carry out regular informal inspections, they are not required to hire an arboriculturalist unless a potential problem is apparent. Mr. Steel's obligations were found to be limited to his contractual duties, and he was not liable for failing to inspect or warn about potential defects in the tree. The claims against both defendants were dismissed.
Judgment
The Hon. Mr Justice Coulson:
1. INTRODUCTION
Rose Cottage (“the property”) is an early Victorian house adjacent to the railway in Staines. At about 12:30am on 18 December 2009, one of the claimant’s trains, travelling eastwards from Staines to Feltham, collided with a stem of an Ash tree (“the Tree”) which had fallen onto the railway line from the garden of the property. At the time of the collision, the property was owned by the first defendant, Ms Kathleen Hind, a primary school headmistress.
In these proceedings, the claimant seeks to recover the cost of repairing the damage to the train, and other consequential costs, against Ms Hind. There is also a separate claim against the second defendant, Mr Andrew Steel, a tree surgeon who carried out certain work to the trees and shrubs in Ms Hind’s garden in 2006 and 2007. Damages have been agreed at £325,000. The liability of both defendants remains in issue.
2. CHRONOLOGY
Ms Hind bought the property on 15 August 2001. It is an attractive house with a large garden. The southern strip of the garden abuts the railway line; indeed, it appears that this strip was originally owned by the relevant railway company, before being conveyed to a previous owner of the property in the 1960’s. The eastern end of this strip of land narrows into a triangular area which, at the relevant time, was uncultivated and covered with ivy, brambles and nettles. The Tree was located close to the point of the triangle. It was hard up against the wooden fence on the southern side of the garden, and part of it overhung the railway.
The Tree was an Ash. It was about 150 years old. It was originally made up of three separate stems. The northern stem had fallen many years before Ms Hind bought the property. The two remaining stems, the eastern and the western, grew out of a common trunk. They were largely vertical, although it became apparent during the trial that there was a large branch growing off the eastern stem approximately along the boundary line.
Shortly after Ms Hind purchased the property, she employed a tree surgeon, a Mr Holmes, to cut back trees and shrubs to let some light into the garden. This work cost around £2,000. However, Ms Hind was not happy with Mr Holmes’ work and did not use him again. She felt that he had caused unnecessary damage to the trees. He may have done some work to the Tree but, if so, it was not clear precisely what he did.
In January 2006, Ms Hind engaged Mr Steel, the second defendan