Negligence cases

• Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)


  A landmark legal case that established the modern law of negligence
• Mrs Donoghue


  • Was in a cafe with a friend
  • Was drinking ginger beer from an opaque bottle
  • The bottle had been bought for her by her friend
  • Had no contractual relationship with the cafe owner nor the manufacturer
• When Mrs Donoghue's glass was topped up, the remains of a decomposed snail fell out
• The shock of the snail, together with the thought of what she had already drunk, led Mrs Donoghue to suffer shock and severe gastroenteritis
• HL Held (by a majority 3 to 2)(Donoghue v Stevens (1932))


  That a legal duty of care could be owed by a manufacturer to a consumer, even though no contractual duty existed