The Problem
卢卢卢Gloria is an antiques trader who has made a great deal of money from buying items at car boot sales.
Gloria was asked by Maria, one of her regular clients who exports antiques to South America, to keep a look out for a grandfather clock. Because Gloria had heard that there were likely to be some bargains to be found in the Yorkshire Dales, she persuaded her friend Ahmed to drive her to a sale which was being held in Appletreewick.
When they arrived at the sale-ground, Ahmed parked his car on a slight incline. The handbrake was properly applied. Almost immediately, Gloria found a suitable clock and Ahmed took it back to the car while Gloria telephoned Maria, who was very excited as she already had a buyer lined up.
As Ahmed placed the clock in the car, he failed to notice that he had released the handbrake. Shortly afterwards, when Ahmed was not nearby, the car started to roll backwards down the incline. As it did so, it struck Jack, aged five, who was visiting the sale with his father James and his cousin Trudy. Miraculously, Jack suffered very little physical injury as the car passed over him, although he was shaken at first. James and Trudy witnessed the incident 鈥?which was over too quickly for them to intervene effectively - from a distance of a few of metres.
The car eventually came to rest when it struck a tree. The clock was destroyed.
Jack鈥檚 mother Delia arrived in her car, as previously arranged, to collect the family. At this point, Jack had calmed down and James and Trudy seemed in control of themselves.
When Delia was told the details of the incident and saw the crash site she went into shock. Subsequently, she developed severe depression. Trudy now has PTSD and James complains of mood swings.
Gloria was unable to sell the destroyed clock to Maria. Maria, who was very disappointed, has said that she will not do business with Gloria again.
Ahmed is now being threatened with claims in negligence from Gloria, Delia, Trudy and James. James is also threatening to bring a claim on behalf of Jack.
Advise Ahmed.
If anyone fancies giving an in-depth answer, it would be very much appreciated! =D
Thanks in advance for your answers people =D|||I'm not a lawyer, nor a law school student. Just a college student who has taken a business law class. I'll give it a shot though.
Ahmed would be liable for the value of the broken clock, but not any damages arising from a lost sale. Gloria was not under contract to produce that particular clock for Maria. Maria hadn't even seen the clock and could very well have changed her mind about purchasing it. He would be liable for the value of the clock because even though he was unaware of releasing the handbrake, it is his duty to make sure the car is secure at all times. Ignorance is not a defense.
Delia and James do not have a credible case to make against Ahmed, because he did not cause them bodily harm. As far as them developing PTSD is concerned, Delia didn't even witness the event and even though James and Trudy did, no real harm was done, Jack was fine. Just because a person witnesses a trumatic event does not mean there's a cause of action.
Jack is the only one I'm really not sure about. Even though he was not physically injured, his parents seem to be the type to make some trumped-up claim that the boy has emotional issues stemming from the incident.
I know this is not exactly an answer, but it was fun giving it a try. Hope it helps. =D
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