Personal Injury Liability

[DMC24]

I have a claim against a farmer for injuries caused by their farming activities.

The farm owner is denying any liability, claiming that their sub-contractors are liable and have refused to identify details of their public liability insurance.

Could anybody clarify what a farmers legal responsibilities are relating to any farm activities on their land and injuries caused to others, including any relevant acts or legislation.

Thank you.

[PallasAthena]

What has happened? What injuries have you suffered?

[DMC24]

Chemical exposure and poisoning from crop spraying, resulting in various injuries to myself and also injuries and death caused to my pets. Plus other damages caused, such as lost income, pain and suffering and distress caused.

Am I right in understanding that the farm owner is responsible under the Health and safety at work Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations 1999, and the Provision and use of work equipment Regulations 1998, regardless of who was operating the machinery or equipment?

Are there any other relevant Acts or regulations that I could quote?

Are there any links available to any previous court cases of a similar nature that I could quote?

I did find details of a case in the USA where a farmer had destroyed crops of a neighbouring farmer and the Claimant was awarded various compensation totalling over $10 million, but cannot find it online now.

[efpom]

Have you issued proceedings?

[PallasAthena]

This sounds familiar. Have you posted about this here before under another user name?

Neither the farmer nor their contractor are required to give you details of their insurance although if you make a formal claim against them you'll likely find out who their insurers are as they should pass your claim on to their insurer.

If my memory is correct this occurred a couple of years ago so you will need to watch the limitation period for making bodily injury claims against the farmer or you might end up statute barred.

What evidence do you have from a medical professional that the poisoning you suffered was caused by the spraying?

Did a vet carry out an autopsy on the pet(s) that was killed?

USA cases have zero relevance in the UK.

[DMC24]

Yes. There is no hearing date set yet, but the farmers solicitors have filed a defence to my claim. They admit instructing a specialist firm (contractor) to "undertake the spraying", but deny any liability?

[efpom]

Post up the claim and defence - redacted

[DMC24]

This sounds familiar. Have you posted about this here before under another user name?

Neither the farmer nor their contractor are required to give you details of their insurance although if you make a formal claim against them you'll likely find out who their insurers are as they should pass your claim on to their insurer.

If my memory is correct this occurred a couple of years ago so you will need to watch the limitation period for making bodily injury claims against the farmer or you might end up statute barred.

What evidence do you have from a medical professional that the poisoning you suffered was caused by the spraying?

Did a vet carry out an autopsy on the pet(s) that was killed?

USA cases have zero relevance in the UK.

These incidents happened in 2022 and the farmer was notified straight away about injuries caused. I was falsely accused of lying about any spraying having taken place at all and they refused to provide any details of their insurers. I also requested details of what chemicals had been sprayed and also requested advance notice of any future spraying, both of which they refused to provide and they sprayed again the following day after I contacted them.

They have now attached a report to their defence from their contractor detailing the chemicals used, with dates and other info, received yesterday.

I cannot believe their audacity in denying any liability. The actual farmers are liable for this, right?

[PallasAthena]

If you have issued court proceedings then a judge will decide whether the farmer/contractor is liable.

Post up redacted copies of the claim and defence per Efpom's post.

And post a reply to my questions about the evidence you have from a medical professional (for your injuries) and a vet (for your pets' death/injuries).

Impossible to say, knowing so little about the claim and defence, whether the farmer is liable. It isn't just a question of the legal principles but also of the evidence. What is your evidence that the spraying caused caused the injuries?

[DMC24]

Yes, but I would hate for this to drag on for more months/years to then potentially be told by a Judge that I have sued the wrong party? I am confident the farm owner is liable, but just would like some reassurance from legal experts about liability for this?

I don't have any electronic copy of the papers. I am not trying to be difficult but I have some difficulties uploading what you have asked for. I will try to do this, but might take me quite a long time. In the meantime I would be grateful for any help answering my questions to help me decide how to proceed from here.

The only medical evidence to date that I could provide relating to my injuries would be from potential GP notes from discussing the crop spraying with my GP, although on examining my digital medical records, I could not see any mention specifically of this from the notes my GP has written on my records. There may be more detailed notes on my full paper medical records. I have also suffered repeated laryngitis since the spraying incidents happened (the spray also hit me directly in the face), which is something I have never suffered with ever before and also other health problems.

My biggest concern is that direct exposure to these dangerous chemicals (commercial pesticides/herbicides/insecticides) are well documented for causing cancer and other serious health problems. I also personally now people who have been directly exposed to these chemicals whilst working on a farm and all of whom developed aggressive cancers in a relatively short space of time, so I know exactly how dangerous these chemicals are.

The deaths were of a litter of kittens, who were almost full term, but the mother suffered a miscarriage as a direct result of injuries caused to her by the farming activities resulting in the loss of her entire litter. No, autopsies were not carried out on the stillborn kittens.

My surviving pets suffered chemical burns to their eyes, severe breathing and respiratory difficulties and severe emotional trauma and distress. I have photographic evidence of the various injuries caused to my pets, which are time and date stamped by exif data on the images.

I also have very clear photographic and CCTV evidence of the crop spraying.

I went outside in the rear garden to try to bring my pets inside to safety when the spraying was taking place and was also hit directly in the face with the spray. My personal immediate injuries included sudden severe breathing and respiratory difficulties, dizziness, nausea, a severe asthma attack and panic attack and my general health has deteriorated since then, including my mental health.

I would also be relying on my witness statement and other well documented evidence of how harmful these chemicals are.

I believe my evidence is sufficient to prove my claim and have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the faming activities not only directly caused these injuries, but also clear evidence that it was done with deliberate intent to cause harm and injury.

[PallasAthena]

Now I remember it, you posted about it as Malibu1 here https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...25#post1626425

I gathered from that thread that you reported the spraying to the police, council and HSE and all refused to investigate. In my opinion you still have the same problem that you were advised on in that thread; without evidence from medical/veternary professionals you will struggle to prove that it was the crop spraying that caused injury to you and your pets.

Proving that crop spraying took place is not evidence that it caused you injuries. Nor does proving that spray chemicals can be poisonous prove that they did in fact poison you. I don't share your confidence that your evidence will prove your claim, but it's your claim so if you believe it go ahead.

Farmer is likely to be legally responsible for the actions of his contractor but might not be so why not just sue both of them as joint defendants?

You need to find a way of uploading documents so that we can see what is happening. If you don't it won't be easy to advise you.

Perhaps you could clarify what advice you are still looking for?

[DMC24]

Yes that was me. I wasn't trying to hide anything, I just didn't want to complicate matters further for myself, in terms of seeking assistance, or for anybody else providing input into the matter.

Yes I did report the farming incidents to the local Council and was told that they do not deal with farming matters and they directed me to report to the HSE. I did that and have evidence of reporting this to them, although they failed to request any evidence from me. From what I understand, there are laws in place preventing farmers from spraying close to water sources, due to poisoning and contamination risks, however no laws from spraying close to people/animals?

From what I understand though, farmers are required to adhere to various safety procedures and to ensure an adequate safety buffer zone is adhered to, to prevent any potential "spray drift" or negligent direct exposure of poisons to people/animals. They have clearly failed to do this.

I also reported the actions of the farmer to the Police, including the farming activities/spraying and other repeated harassment. I have been meaning to do a SAR to the Police for the records of this report, which I think would be a record of the 101 telephone report made. I keep forgetting to do this, but will make a SAR request ASAP.

I am quite confident that my evidence is sufficient, due to timings and dates of these incidents.

I forgot to add, in terms of medical evidence relating to mental health injuries caused, there is ample medical evidence available to support this.

How would I now add any additional joint defendants to the claim? Would I have to complete a specific application for that? Even if other parties bear some responsibility to the damages caused, that makes things much more complicated and difficult for me. Can other parties simply be named within documents, but with the main claim being made solely against the farmer?

The camera on my phone is currently not working to photograph documents and their defence is many pages. I will try my best to do this but might take a while.

[atticus]

CPR Part 19 contains the rules about adding parties.

Have you not engaged solicitors to act for you in your claim?

[DMC24]

I am representing myself.

I only have a printed paper copy of their defence and have no way of uploading it at the moment, unless I type it all out but is many pages long.

The part where they deny liability for the negligent use of bird-scaring guns and the crop spraying, they state that they are subject to strict protocols which they claim are always adhered to. They state that they themselves did not undertake the spraying and they have named the specialist firm (contractor) who they instructed to undertake the spraying and rely upon a spraying report provided by contractor, which is attached to their defence. They claim that any injury caused to my pets was not due to the conduct of them or their agents.

The spraying report details dates, volumes sprayed, wind speed and names of which pesticides/herbicides/insecticides were sprayed on each separate occassion. I have just checked the dates on their report against my own evidence and there is at least one date/record entry completely missing, which happens to be one of the key dates relating to injuries caused. They have therefore deliberately tampered with and falsified the records, which can be proven by my own evidence (photographs, videos, CCTV and dates of emails exchanged between myself and their managing agents.)

My evidence also shows that the poisons were sprayed on multiple occasions very deliberately and directly into my garden.

I assume I should file a reply to their defence, addressing each of their allegations/paragraphs, along with a witness statement detailing exactly what happened with a timeline of events and impact of injuries/damages caused? And also fully detailed particulars of claim? A hearing date for this has not yet been set, Is there any specific timeframe or deadline I have to file any of the above?

Part of my claim also relates to the actions and harrassing conduct of their managing agents and also their solicitors, who have also acted disgracefully towards me and their solicitors have blatantly and repeatedly lied throughout and repeatedly breached the SRA code of conduct. Can I simply detail all of this and name those other parties within my claim against the farmer, to avoid any extra complications from having to add them as separate additional defendants? I believe the farmer is liable for the actions of their agents/representatives under agency law?

[DMC24]

Just so you can see this is how closely they sprayed. You can see they used zero safety buffer zone and sprayed right up to the garden fence.