Jolley v. Sutton London Borough Council

A derelict boat and trailer were left abandoned for years on council-owned grounds where children played, despite the council posting a danger sticker and residents' complaints that it was never removed. Fourteen-year-old Jolley (plaintiff) and a friend decided to repair the boat using a jack and improvised props, and months later the boat fell on Jolley while he worked underneath it, leaving him paraplegic. The trial judge found for Jolley (reduced 25 percent for contributory negligence), but the Court of Appeal reversed, holding the specific injury exceeded the scope of reasonably foreseeable harm, since only minor injuries from playing on the derelict boat were foreseeable.