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The movement of the brain within the skull may rupture veins, or more rarely an artery, inside the head leading to bleeding which builds up into a blood clot or haematoma. 67. He inferred that professional boxers would be unlikely to have an innate or well informed concern about safety. It was also important to have a prior arrangement with the hospital with a neurological unit, and with that unit placed on standby. Many of the matters considered under the heading of proximity are also relevant to the question of whether it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care in this case. So in my view is an educational psychologist or psychiatrist and a teacher including a teacher in a specialised area, such as a teacher concerned with children having special educational needs. In delivering the leading speech Lord Browne-Wilkinson observed at p.739: "The question whether there is such a common law duty and if so its ambit, must be profoundly influenced by the statutory framework within which the acts complained of were done.". * Enter a valid Journal (must Once the defendant had become involved in the activity which gives rise to the risk, he comes under the duty to act reasonably in all respects relevant to that risk. 51. In case of any confusion, feel free to reach out to us.Leave your message here. On the findings of the judge it was delay which caused the further injuries. Also by Rupert Sheldrake A New Science of Life (1981; new edition 2009) The Presence of the Past (1988; new edition 2011) The Rebirth of Nature (1990) Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994; new edition 2002) Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999; new edition 2011) The Sense of Being Stared At (2003) with Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna Chaos Creativity and . 3. 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. 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. 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. The aircraft crashed and the Plaintiff sustained personal injuries. The first challenge to the Judge's finding on breach of duty was that he applied the wrong test. English case law has developed, with various twists and turns, in the problematic field of factual causation. See Hedley Byrne & Co. Ltd. v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465 and Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd [1995] 2 AC 145. That case involved four further claims by children against local education authorities for, among other things, negligently failing to address their special educational needs. Boxing is the only sport where this is the object of the exercise. The L.A.S. The rise in pressure inside the skull caused by the haematoma results in distortion of the brain. The Board contends:-. The Board accepted these recommendations and promulgated them by way of guidance. 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. The arrival of the ambulance was greatly delayed without any reasonable explanation. It was foreseeable that the claimant could suffer personal injuries if there was delay. There is no more justification for a blanket immunity in their cases than there was in Capital & Counties Plc v Hampshire Country Council [1997] QB 1004. It is, however, clear that the test is an objective one: Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd., [1995] 2 AC 145, 181. 124. The Law Commission in its 1994 Consultation Paper No.134 "Criminal Law: Consent and Offences Against the Person" recognised that boxing was an anomaly in English law. 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. Ringside medical facilities were available, but did not provide immediate resuscitation. 25Watson v British Board of Boxing Control Ltd [2001] QB 113419, 20 it was claimed that had Watson received immediate resuscitation he would not have been as badly brain damaged, the Court agreed saying that because the Board were in sole charge of safety arrangements there was sufficient proximity for the board of control to owe a duty of care Order: Appal dismissed with costs on the issues of liability and causation here and below, those costs to be assessed forthwith on to Legal Services Assessment; 18,000 in Court to be paid out in part satisfaction of those costs forthwith; detailed assessment on standard basis; Legal Services Commission taxation; application for permission to appeal to House of Lords refused. iii) Those taking part in the activity, and Mr Watson in particular, relied upon the Board to ensure that all reasonable steps were taken to provide immediate and effective medical attention and treatment to those injured in the course of the activity. As a result of the delay the patient sustained brain damage. It is said, rightly, that in general such professional duty of care is owed irrespective of contract and can arise even where the professional assumes to act for the plaintiff pursuant to a contract with a third party: Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd [1995] 2 AC 145; White v Jones [1995] 2 AC 207. In Barrett v. Ministry of Defence [1995] 1 WLR a naval rating drank himself into a state of insensibility at the Royal Navy Air Station where he was serving. Stabilise the patient's condition by maintaining an air way and maintaining ventilation. The doctor does not, by examining the applicant, come under any general duty of medical care to the applicant. c) The rule that if a fight is stopped by the referee or a boxer is counted out, the boxer's licence is suspended for at least 28 days and until the boxer is certified fit to box by a doctor. In Smoldon v Whitworth [1997] PIQR P133 the duty of care had been conceded in the context of a school colts game and similarly, boxing came under scrutiny in Watson v British Boxing. The ambulance took him to North Middlesex Hospital, which was less than a mile away. 58. I think that the Judge was right. This contention had some similarities to submissions made in relation to the Popular Flying Association in Perrett v Collins. The Board called to give evidence Mr Peter Richards, a Consultant Neuro-Surgeon with Charing Cross Hospital between 1987 and 1995. 10. 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. 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 fact, it took very much longer than a few minutes to get to the hospital, for reasons that were not identified at the trial. 3. 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. 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. The child has a learning difficulty. His evidence was that it was his practice to use it where a patient was experiencing breathing difficulties. Watson & British Boxing Board Of Control Ltd & Anor IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE Case No: QBENF1999/1137/A2 COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION) ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION (THE HON MR JUSTICE IAN KENNEDY) Tuesday 19th December 2000 THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS LORD JUSTICE MAY LORD JUSTICE LAWS Respondent/Claimant The doctors who were actually present were not aware of the desirability of immediate resuscitation of a victim with a brain haemorrhage. 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. He submitted that, having regard to the chaos prevailing at the end of the fight, Mr Watson would not have received medical attention for seven minutes, even if the Hamlyn protocol had been in place. Lord Woolf M.R. The members of the Board are those who are involved in professional boxing. Finally I return to Perrett v. Collins, the only case referred to by Ian Kennedy J. when considering the question of duty of care. Dr Shapiro examined Mr Watson and put a Brookes Airway into his mouth to maintain his airway. It made provision in its Rules for the medical precautions to be employed and made compliance with these Rules mandatory. d) The rule that a boxer must be medically examined before every contest. about 23.01. The Board's Medical Committee met to consider these on the 22nd October 1991 and made recommendations which included the following: "1 The nearest hospital with a neurological unit should be notified of the date of each tournament held under the Board's jurisdiction and must be on alert in case of serious head injury. The probability must therefore have been that he could have been among those patients who would have had a favourable outcome, or no circumstance peculiar to his physical make-up has been identified to suggest why that should not be so". agreed with Hobhouse L.J. The medical room should be situated in close proximity to the boxer's dressing rooms and be reasonable accessible to and from the ring. I do not believe that the evidence admits of any accurate answer to this question but that is by no means an uncommon situation in cases of this sort. Creating your profile on CaseMine allows you to build your network with fellow lawyers and prospective clients. While I do not agree with Mr Mackay's submission that Perrett v Collins provides a close analogy to the present case, I do find helpful the formulation of legal principle by Hobhouse L.J. I would echo the comment of Lord Steyn in Marc Rich & Co. v Bishop Rock Ltd [1996] AC 211 at p.236: "None of the cases cited provided any realistic analogy to be used as a springboard for a decision one way or the other in this case. First, Watson is apparently the first reported case in which the English 33. 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. Lord Browne-Wilkinson answered this question in the affirmative. In an open letter to BMA delegates, written some time in the 1980's, Dr Whiteson, the Chief Medical Officer to the Board, wrote "The British Boxing Board of Control is justifiably proud of its reputation of being in the vanguard of the protection of professional boxers." The General Medical Council clearly states that a doctor must offer help when off-duty, if an emergency arises. Nearly half an hour elapsed between the end of the fight and the time that he got there. In answer to a claim by the workman, the architect argued that his only duty was the contractual duty that he owed to the owners of the building. 123. It is a duty to take reasonable care to ensure that personal injuries already sustained are properly treated. 74. 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. 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. 91. Get 2 points on providing a valid reason for the above Citation. The Judge did not rely upon the specific evidence given by Mr Watson about reliance. If wrong information had not been given about the arrival of the ambulance, other means of transport could have been used". Any loss of consciousness was short lived - he regained his feet and walked to his corner. Treatment that should have been provided at the ringside. b) A limit on the number of rounds to twelve (Rule 3.7). Whilst unattended he vomited and died as a result of inhaling his own vomit. The referee stopped the fight in the final round when Watson appeared to be unable to defend himself. iii) to decide whether these principles should be applied so as to give rise to a duty of care in the present case. He would thus have developed the subdural haemorrhage in the most favourable circumstances possible, short of doing so in hospital with staff around him. [4] After recovering consciousness, he sued the BBBC, arguing that because they laid down the rules governing professional boxing that ensured his safety, they owed him a duty of care and should have ensured that he was properly and immediately treated. [1988] 1 AC 1074 at 1090; and Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority [1987] 1 AC 750 at 783. A preliminary issue was tried as to whether Mr Usherwood and the PFA owed the Plaintiff a duty of care. He said that a report had identified the risks. She claimed in negligence and occupiers liability. 44. Furthermore, if an ambulance service is called and agrees to attend the patient, those caring for the patient normally abandon any attempt to find an alternative means of transport to the hospital". Next Mr. Walker argued that the duty of care alleged was one owed for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate number of persons. When considering whether the Board owed Watson a duty of care, Ian Kennedy J. examined at some length the role played by the Board in imposing, by rules and regulations, the safety standards to be observed by those involved in professional boxing in this country. Lord Phillips MR Gazette 22-Mar-2001, Times 02-Feb-2001, [2000] EWCA Civ 2116, [2001] QB 1134, [2001] PIQR 16 Bailii, Bailii England and Wales Citing: Considered Perrett v Collins, Underwood PFA (Ulair) Limited (T/a Popular Flying Association) CA 22-May-1998 The plaintiff was a passenger in an aircraft which crashed, and there was a preliminary issue as to the liability to him of those who certified that the aircraft was fit to fly. B. 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". There he arrived in the scanning room at 00.30 on 22nd September. An analogy can be drawn with the duty of an employer, whose activities involve a particular health risk, to make provision for its employees to receive appropriate medical attention - see Stokes v. Guest Keen & Nettlefold (Bolts & Nuts) [1968] 1 WLR 1776. The comparison drawn by Mr Walker between the Board and a rescuer is not apt. On the law relied upon by the Judge, this was all that Mr Watson needed to succeed. * the treatment actually provided to Mr Watson. 17. If so, it is misguided. For these reasons I would dismiss this appeal. ", 38. Effects are usually short-lived and do not produce lasting damage. 85) or a producer may be liable for the absence of an adequate warning on the labelling of his product (e.g. In support of that proposition Mr. Walker relied upon X v Bedfordshire CC and Stovin v Wise [1996] AC 923. In its statutory context the ambulance service is more properly described as part of the National Health Service than as a rescue service. I can summarise the position as follows. In relation to two of the cases involving special educational needs, Lord Browne-Wilkinson reached a different conclusion. 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. In 1990 Mr Watson had been involved in litigation with his manager, in which the Board had filed an Affidavit. The patient can then be taken straight to the nearest neurosurgical unit. That phrase can be misleading in that it can suggest that the professional person must knowingly and deliberately accept responsibility. If his condition was satisfactory, he could have been transferred for resuscitation to hospital, there have his condition stabilised and thereafter be transferred to a Neurosurgical Unit for more definitive investigation and treatment. In the chaos that then ensued, Mr Watson was surrounded by his team, which included a number of bodyguards. It is not possible to measure even on the balance of probabilities where the damage would have stopped if the protocol had been followed. I have not heard evidence to the effect that the Board or its medical advisers had before this incident considered, and for some reason decided not to follow, what may not unfairly be called this protocol. Mr Watson belonged to a class which was within the contemplation of the Board. The present case can only be decided on the basis of an intense and particular focus on all its distinctive features, and then applying established legal principles to it.". 2. This is a further factor which tends to establish the proximity necessary for a duty of care. In the leading judgment Hobhouse L.J. 101. Licence holders are also required to comply with the Board's policy in respect of matters not dealt with by specific rules. 73. 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. There was evidence that the Board's Medical Committee met regularly to consider medical precautions. Questioned further by the Judge, he agreed that to the best of his recollection, there was no discussion during the 1980's about whether the practice of stabilising victims of head injuries at the scene of the event, should be applied to the sport of Boxing. There is a general reliance by the public on the fire service and the police to reduce those risks. If Mr Watson has no remedy against the Board, he has no remedy at all. In accordance with normal practice, the medical officers for the contest were nominated by the Southern Area Council. The background to this case was described by Hobhouse L.J. I do not consider that a conscious reliance by the patient on the hospital to exercise care is an essential element in this duty of care. considered the question of whether it was fair and reasonable to impose a duty of care. The request for an ambulance was accepted. The Bout Agreement, which was subject to the sanction of the Board, provided that: "The bout will be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the WBO and BBBC". In this the Judge was correct. Only full case reports are accepted in court. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control (2001 . Had the Board said nothing, it might not be liable, but once it gave advice by setting rules, it came to be responsible. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the person and an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence.