11 May 2023

Sengers v Moray College - The question of what duty of care is owed to adults voluntarily participating in a parents’ race at a children’s sports day was considered in a recent case which we successfully defended.

The Pursuer was attending her daughter’s nursery annual sports day. The final event was the egg and spoon race for the mothers. The whole day’s schedule had been moved indoors to a sports hall due to poor weather, not an uncommon occurrence in the north of Scotland.  Whilst taking part in the egg and spoon race, the Pursuer failed to stop at the finish line and instead crashed into the wall, suffering a significant injury to both of her wrists as a result.

No other parent was unable to stop at the finish line. The Pursuer claimed that the Defenders were liable, for failing to prepare an adequate and written risk assessment in advance of moving the event indoors, failing to provide impact reducing matting on the wall, and because the run off distance after the finish line was insufficient.

The incident was, helpfully, captured on video by a bystander. This showed that the Pursuer had set off at some pace, lost control of her running stride and, being unable to stop, crashed into the wall.

The Defence was, basically, that the Pursuer was at fault herself for failing to moderate her speed and movement and failing to take proper cognisance of where the wall was.  It was argued that the precautions which the Pursuer claimed ought to have been taken were disproportionate to the circumstances, and that the organisers should have been able to assume that adults taking part in such a race would do so sensibly.  In the circumstances, it was argued that the Defenders fulfilled any duties they had towards the Pursuer.

Ultimately, the Sheriff found that the accident was indeed caused by the Pursuer’s own fault.

In what might be termed a “common sense” judgement, the Sheriff stated that the risk assessments (both written and dynamic) were perfectly adequate in the context of a nursery sports day. The contention by the Pursuer that there ought to have been impact attenuating matting against the wall was described as disproportionate and, “over egging the pudding.” The Pursuer was shown on the video to be out of control, and her behaviour in approaching the egg and spoon event in this way was not something which could have been reasonably foreseen by the Defenders.

Tim Webster, Associate: twe@bto.co.uk / 0141 221 8012