2025 Question 1 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer

Scenario summary

Mr A runs a rural glamping business laid out on a steeply sloping plot, with fire pits, barbecues and hot tubs. The site sits next to a public road and a housing estate of 50 homes.

During 2022 Mr A fixed an advertising sign to a branch of a roadside tree by nailing it in place. In the summer of 2022 that branch snapped and dropped onto a car belonging to Mr B. Mr B veered into a wall and sustained bruising, lacerations and a suspected fracture of the sacrum. His first X-ray produced no clear result. Because the pain persisted, a second X-ray in September 2024 confirmed the fracture, and he then commenced legal proceedings.

Over a period of six months, guests at the site played loud music late at night and lit fires and barbecues, sending smoke and noise across the estate. Mr C, a resident, went onto the site after dark, switched off the electricity and hosed down the fire pits and barbecues so that they could no longer be used. Mr A seized him, hauled him by the scruff of the neck and shut him inside a vacant hut for several hours. Mr C smashed a window but chose not to climb out because the broken glass was too dangerous.

Later, a torrential rainstorm soaked the ground and a mudslide worked the hot tubs loose. Water from the tubs and from their supply flooded Mr C's property, causing €50,000 of damage and drowning his cat. Mr C is deeply distressed and is receiving psychiatric care.

Consider Mr A's exposure to claims brought by Mr B and Mr C, and Mr C's own potential liability to Mr A.

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.