In the name of the County
Court of Portsmouth
December 1st, 2011
Between :
§ Jean
Arthur BOYER and his
legal representatives Mr and Mrs BOYER Michel, represented by Mrs PESNEL
Pauline and Mrs LAINE Ophélie (Fish & Cage LLP).
And
§ Robert
ANDERSON, represented by
Mr Nicolas RZEZNIK et Mr Paul VERDIER.
Elizabeth
the second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Nothern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the
Commonwealth, Defender of Faith :
To :
Robert Anderson
Of : Ruskin Road
Porstmouth PO4 8, UK
ENGLAND
Of : Ruskin Road
Porstmouth PO4 8, UK
ENGLAND
We
command you that within 14 days after the service of this writ on you,
inclusive of the day of service, you do cause an appearance to be entered for
you in an action at the suit of :
JEAN-ARTHUR BOYER, 3 RUE JULES SIEGFRIED, 76600 LE
HAVRE
And
take notice that in default of you doing so the plaintiff may proceed therein,
and judgment may be given in your absence.
Mr BOYER’S CLAIM IS FOR:
-Damage for bodily harm,
-Damage for mental injury
-Damage for non-pecuniary damage
-Damage for financial loss (repayment of the hospital fees and the loss of chance to participate to an international bridge competition which prize was 15,000 £.
-Damage for mental injury
-Damage for non-pecuniary damage
-Damage for financial loss (repayment of the hospital fees and the loss of chance to participate to an international bridge competition which prize was 15,000 £.
FACTS
In December 2010, our client Jean-Arthur BOYER (JA) and the Portsmouth Bridge Club headmaster Robert Anderson (Bob), began a written
correspondence in order to negotiate the contract for the giving of a
master-class to the Portsmouth Bridge Club. They both agreed on a salary of 50
pounds for the day. Bob added “We will
look after you during your stay […] I promise”.
On 15th of January, the plaintiff arrived
at Portsmouth and gave his class as it was foreseen. After the class, the
defendant offered JA to join the whole team in a pub. JA came by later in the
evening and was offered some drinks by Bob.
As JA is not really fluent in English he started to
talk to Bob’s girlfriend, Casey who was the only French speaker and sat next to
him. Bob obviously got jealous and threatened JA by grabbing his shirt and
yelling “You may be my guest but if you
keep chatting up my girlfriend, I’ll kill you”. As Bob was trying to kiss
his girlfriend goodbye, she pushed him and he felt to the floor. When he came
back up, he apparently wanted to hit Casey but hit violently JA instead. Our
client smashed onto the table which consequently broke into parts and crashed
on the floor. He barely managed to stand back up and immediately ask for an
opportunity to lie down because he was feeling miserable.
Bob walked him to a room and laid him on the floor. He
noticed that JA was passing away but just opened the window and walked away
letting him alone and not caring any further about him. On top of that it was
very cold outside and it was foreseeable that it was about to snow.
He woke up completely wet and cold. Seriously wounded,
disoriented and confused, the plaintiff took some time to realize what happened
last night, and pull himself together. As nobody heard his cries for help and
he was left back all alone he put all his forces together to call an
ambulance.
At the Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Dr Howard
Jenkinson certified that JA was checked by the nurses and found in good wealth.
The medical core advised him to go back home which he did. He indeed managed to
take a ferry back to Le Havre but his condition got worse and worse during the
journey.
As a result he was admitted to the emergency service
of the Hospital of Le Havre the following day. He was diagnosed a pneumonia and
3 broken ribs and consequently stayed in his bed for four weeks and missed 3
important International Bridge Competition including one happening in Beijin
with a prize of 15,000 pounds. JA had a nervous breakdown and as result became
depressed. He is currently followed by a psychologist.
DISCUSSION
We will first examine the very
source of the damage of our client that is to say the trespass inflicted by Bob
to Jean-Arthur.
I.
Trespass to the person
Strongly convinced that both
assault and battery cannot be denied in our case, we will demonstrate it to our
distinguished judges.
1.
Assault
Assault is defined as …
First of all…
We have to add to these arguments that …
In addition, Jean-Arthur was …
Seeing those arguments, the Court must declare Bob
liable for assault.
Now that we have proved that Bob assaulted
Jean-Arthur, we will prove that he also committed battery on him.
B.
Battery
Battery is the intentional and direct application of
force to another person. There are 3 elements to consider: Force, Direct
Application and Intent.
Etc…
The Defence may argue that…
To conclude, we will reaffirm that Bob is liable for
two different trespasses to the person which are ASSAULT and BATTERY. As a
result, the Court must declare Bob liable for battery.
But trespass to the person is not the only source of
Bob’s liability. Indeed, we also plea for Bob’s negligence to be recognized.
II.
Negligence
A.
Damage
(...)
B.
Duty
of care
(...)
C.
Breach
of duty
(...)
D.
Causation
III.
Mitigation
(…)
IV.
Damages
As a result of Bob’s negligence, assault and battery,
our client suffered many damages. Among these, we do claim a compensation for:
Damage for bodily harm (A) ; Damage for mental injury (B) ; Damage for
non-pecuniary damage (C) ; Damage for financial loss (D).
A.
Damage
for bodily harm
B.
Damage
for mental injury
C.
The
non-pecuniary damage
D.
Damage
for financial loss
(i)
Hospital
charges
(ii)
Loss
of chance
Conclusion
It is asked to the Court that the defendant:
-
Be
declared liable for trespass to the person and negligence ;
-
Be
condemned to pay 18, 350£ to Mr Jean-Arthur BOYER.
