Court reverses prize money of 60,000 euros for bus driver who allegedly slipped on black ice in residential complex

The CoA said a claim that the apartment complex’s management company had an obligation to grit public pedestrian areas in anticipation of inclement weather would impose “an unduly onerous duty” on occupants of premises.

Mr Ahmed alleged that Castlegrange Management Co Ltd and Castlegrange Square Management Co Ltd, whose registered office is at Dunboyne Business Park, Co Meath, have a duty under Sections 3 and 4 of the Occupiers Liability Act to ensure that a person does not suffer harm.

He alleged the defendants were negligent in the maintenance, upkeep and repair of the landing and stairs, including failure to grit the surface to deal with black ice and to post signage to warn of the danger.

He also claimed that mats or other materials reduced the risk of slipping because there were no grippy “noses” on the edge of the first three steps of the stairs. The court also heard that a week before the accident, a light above his apartment door, which he was responsible for, blew out.

He sustained a displaced comminuted fracture of his left elbow in the accident and was unable to work for two months.

All claims were dismissed by the defendants.

A year ago, the now-retired High Court Judge Bronagh O’Hanlon awarded Mr Ahmed €60,201 after finding the area where the accident occurred was a public route that was under the control of the accused fell and the effect of scattering could have prevented this accident.

If ledges on the steps were present and in proper condition, they would have helped break his fall, she also said.

Castlegrange appealed the High Court’s decision.

On Wednesday, Justice Seamus Noonan, on behalf of the three-Judge CoA, said the High Court judge’s conclusion that the defendants were required to disperse the landing “cannot stand”. He allowed the appeal and dismissed Mr Ahmed’s complaint.

He said: “It seems impossible to me that the (High Court) judge was correct in concluding that compliance with their duty to exercise reasonable care required the defendants to constantly monitor weather conditions and, in the event of ice to was expected to strew the common areas. “

It was perhaps worth noting that if the provision of such scattering material was such an obvious measure that should have been taken by any sane management company, it is surprising, to say the least, that it never occurred to the plaintiff’s legal team to refer to it to appoint. “

What had indeed been put forward, and it was without the benefit of an engineer’s report, was that there should have been mats on the landing, he said.

If the management company members, who are the apartment owners, found it necessary to pay for the gritting, Castlegrange apparently would have been happy to provide it, he said. “It must be assumed that the management company consists of reasonable persons,” he said.

Even if it can be said that there is a basis for imposing such a duty on the accused, there is equally a duty on the plaintiff to ensure his own safety, he said. The Occupiers Liability Act recognizes such a duty, he said.

Mr. Ahmed had lived in the apartment since 2002 and was “very familiar with the site of the accident,” he said.

He knew the weather had been extremely cold the day before and could see when he came out of his apartment that the floor was wet.

While he may not have been able to observe the black ice he said was present, he “certainly should have reasonably anticipated the potential or probable presence of ice on the landing,” he said.

“In such circumstances I fail to see how he could be found guilty of a very high degree of contributory negligence, possibly as high as 100 per cent as indicated by the defendants.”