Bcpm0061: Introduction To Law Assessment Answer

Question:

Wendy has inherited a large sum of money and wants to invest in a business, so she decides to buy a plot of land and build a theme park, which she calls “Mauritania”. She employs a local building company, Manu & Sons, to carry out the building works, including the construction of all the rides as well as the other buildings.

Manu & Sons complete the building works, and Wendy opens the theme park. At first everything seems to be going well, but soon problems start occurring.

First, after only a few months the roof to the “Beach Shack” restaurant on the theme park collapses after Storm Dennis. The ingress of water damages the inside of the building as well as ruining all the organic burgers which were made for that day, which Wendy estimates cost around £500. Wendy is not happy as she doesn’t think the roof should have collapsed after so little time.

Secondly, one evening after the park has shut, a group of university students decide to break in and have a go on some of the rides. Before they can get to the rides however, one of them, Lionel, falls down a disused well on the site and breaks his leg. He writes a letter to her and says he is going to sue her. Wendy’s friends tell her Wendy can’t possibly be liable to Lionel as he wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Wendy thought she couldn’t be liable as there are signs at the fence to the theme park saying “No trespassing”.

Wendy comes to you, a solicitor, for advice. She is particularly worried that she may be too late to bring a claim as the building works started 2 years ago even though the damage to the roof only happened in February 2020 during Storm Dennis. Advise Wendy on:

1.Any claim she may have against Manu & Sons in respect of the water damage.

2.Any liability she may have to Lionel. She also wants to know how long Lionel has to bring a claim given that his accident took place on 17th February 2020.

PLEASE TURN OVER

You are to advise on liability in tort ONLY and not in contract.

The marking criteria which will be used to mark your coursework are as follows:

•Use of specific case law/statutes (as applicable) 15%

•Demonstration of understanding of relevant areas of law 40%

•Quantum and categories of damages 10%

•Advising on limitation 10%

•How to proceed and practical considerations 20%

•Appropriate layout and structure 5%