Snail In A Bottle [1932]

O'Donaghue versus Stephenson

On the evening of Sunday 26 August 1928 May Donoghue, née M’Alister, boarded a tram in Glasgow for the thirty-minute journey to Paisley. At around ten minutes to nine, she and a friend took their seats in the Wellmeadow Café ... read full story.

On 9 April 1929, Donoghue brought an action against David Stevenson, an aerated water manufacturer in Paisley, in which she claimed £500 as damages for injuries sustained by her through drinking ginger beer which had been manufactured by him. The case was settled in court, and the manufacturer was held liable for damages as he owed a duty of care to the ultimate consumer - from that judgment onwards the particular caselaw has been founded and has been exercised through precedent.

The leading judgment was delivered on 26 May 1932 by Lord Atkin. The most famous section was his explanation of the "neighbour" principle, which was derived from the Christian principle of "loving your neighbour" (see James 2:8 and cf. the Parable of the Good Samaritan):

"A man has a Duty of Care to conduct himself in such a way as to avoid harm to others, where a reasonable man would have seen that such harm could occur".

The elements were never in fact proved, it was never proved that there was in fact a decomposed snail in the ginger beer bottle. It was never proved that she had consumed the fluid. It was never proved that she became ill as a result of that fluid.