This case involves a situation at lunchtime under normal supervision. A first year student was in the School playing fields and his friend asked him to punch his older brother in the arm and run off instigating a chase. He did so and while being chased, he slipped and fell to the ground and was caught by his friends brother and another boy. They lifted him up and swung him from side to side but was dropped in the process and suffered an injury to his shoulder. The incident was seen by the supervising teacher who was on the scene in seconds. The case proceeded to a full hearing in the Circuit Court.
It was suggested that the teacher was talking to another supervisor at the time but this was denied. More so, the teacher he was supposed to be talking to was not in the school at the time. In addition, it was alleged that the incident took place over a much longer time than it had, but again this was denied in evidence by the teacher who confirmed that he had seen the boys gathering and was on the scene in seconds. In his judgement, the Judge made reference to the fact that it was an unfortunate accident, but that there were two teachers on supervisory duty. The chase was unpredictable and he accepted the teachers evidence that he was not chatting to anybody and the level of supervision was adequate. The Plaintiff had not established any breach of duty of care and therefore his case must fail, he dismissed the claim with no order as to costs.