Woodroffe-Hedley v Cuthbertson

Woodroffe-Hedley v Cuthbertson, also known as Hedley v Cuthbertson (Unreported, 20 June 1997) was an English tort law case heard in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. The claimant was a six-year-old child whose father had died in a mountaineering accident; the defendant was the victim's mountain guide who was found guilty of negligence.

Facts
Tour Ronde – North face, showing lower and upper icefields

Gerry Hedley hired David Cuthbertson to guide him to the summit of the Tour Ronde in the French Alps via its steep North face.[1] Hedley was an experienced climber and Cuthbertson was an experienced Alpine guide.[1] Cuthbertson was leading and was concerned about the sun's effect on the snow.[1] He therefore used a single screw belay to save time.[1] Cuthbertson could not remember the accident, but another climber stated that a large sheet of ice broke away from the mountain, wrenching out the screw and killing Hedley instantly.[1] Cuthbertson's knee was fractured in the accident.[1]

Judgment

The victim's six-year-old son, who had not been born at the time of his father's death, was the claimant.[2]

Mr Justice Dyson held that the defendant had been negligent in only using one screw and had fallen below the standard of care owed to the victim.[1] He described the situation as a "serious mistake with tragic consequences."[3] He awarded £150,000 in damages,[1] although he was also critical of the risks that the victim had taken.[3] The damages were paid by the defendant's insurance company.[4]

Later developments

Cuthbertson was the first mountain climber to be sued for negligence following a fatal accident.[2] Hedley's widow expressed sympathy for Cuthberson.[5]

Cuthbertson's actions in the accident were later defended by the professional standards committee of the British Mountain Guides, who found he was not at fault.[6][7][8]

The case is often used as an example in tort law textbooks,[9] as well as in general sports education.[10]

Bibliography
  • Horsley, Kirtsy; Rackley, Erika (2013). Tort Law (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199661893.

References
  1. Horsley & Rackley 2013, p. 9.
  2. James Mellor (17 June 1997). "Death in the Alps and a son's claim for the father he never knew". The Independent. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  3. Horsley & Rackley 2013, p. 10.
  4. Horsley & Rackley 2013, p. 12.
  5. Horsley & Rackley 2013, p. 11.
  6. James Cusick (1 October 1997). "Climbers 'acquit' colleague". The Independent. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  7. "To live life on the edge". Herald Scotland. 13 November 1997. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  8. Doug Scott (1998). "Fame and Fortune Risk, responsibility, and the guided climber" (PDF). The Alpine Journal. 103: 190–193. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  9. Horsley & Rackley 2013, pp. 9–18.
  10. Peter Whitlam (2004). Case Law in Physical Education and School Sport: A Guide to Good Practice. pp. 189–190. ISBN 1902523776.
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