2021 Question 1 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer
Nuisance · Animals · Passing off
Scenario summary
Mr Green is the founder of Reuse Ltd, which runs a thriving scrap-metal recycling and smelting operation out of a disused peat-fired power station for which it holds planning permission. Thick, noxious smoke drifts from the plant across the rural farms nearby.
A neighbouring dairy farmer, Farmer Red, contracts COPD and, once the breathing problems set in, has to destroy a dairy herd valued at €250,000. Farmer Blue likewise loses a beef herd worth €250,000 after the animals become unfit for consumption. Each farmer believes the emissions are to blame.
Every evening, Guards4U Ltd supplies two well-trained Alsatian guard dogs. One night someone props the gate open. A dog knocks into Ms Yellow, who is thrown to the ground and badly hurt. The animals then stray onto Farmer Blue's land, chasing and injuring his sheep, a number of which end up caught in barbed wire or ditches.
A competitor, Mr Brown, sets up a rival firm next door called Reuze2 Ltd. Reuse Ltd's order book shrinks and its projected profit drops sharply. A €20,000 load of scrap intended for Reuse Ltd is delivered to Reuze2 by mistake; Mr Green sends a note asking for it back, but Brown disregards the request, melts half of it into steel beams and sells those beams to Mr Pink for €50,000.
Separately, while hooking up Brown's premises, the electricity supplier Gusto Ltd cuts through the cables feeding Reuse Ltd by accident. The outage destroys a melt that is underway, costing €20,000 in lost profit, and the two-day delay in restoring power also lands Reuse Ltd with a €20,000 contractual penalty.
Candidates are asked to advise on every tort claim arising, the defendants, quantum and any available defences.
This is a LawShortcut scenario summary written in our own words. For the exact examined wording, use the official King’s Inns paper linked above.
What this model answer covers
Issues and structure addressed in the full LawShortcut model answer:
- 1. Farmers Red and Blue — the noxious smoke
- 2. Ms Yellow and Farmer Blue — the guard dogs
- 3. Reuse Ltd v Reuze2 Ltd / Mr Brown — passing off and lost profit
- 4. The €20,000 scrap consignment — detinue and conversion
- 5. Reuse Ltd v Gusto Ltd — severed supply, destroyed melt and economic loss
- 6. Defences and party identification — integrated answer
Read the complete LawShortcut model answer to this question — reading the question, issue spotting, the applicable law, application to the facts and conclusions — inside the King’s Inns Tort Model Answer Vault.
Part of the King’s Inns Tort Model Answer Vault — 30 independently authored model answers, 2020—2025.