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A Level Law - Causation

Has anybody got a case for “a natural but unpredictable event” breaking the chain of causation?
I can't find a British case, but there is the case below from New Zealand which I suppose you could use as persuasive? That's what i'll do but i'm hoping it's not going to come up in a big way.

in Hart (1986), D assaulted V, leaving her lying conscious on a beach below the high-water mark. V was subsequently drowned by the incoming tide. The court of appeal held that D had caused the death of the victim. A freak wave is an unpredictable event so it is likely to be unforeseeable and would have amounted to an intervening act in the case of Hart if V was left lying above high water mark. But in a situation in which an unconscious victim is left below the tide line and drowns when the tide comes in. This is a wholly foreseeable occurrence so it will not break the chain of causation. Even though the defendant did not drown the victim directly, he put the victim in a position where it was foreseeable that the victim would drown so liability would be established.Hope this helped somewhat.

Source: https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/causation-is-only-important-in-situation-where-a-crime-has-been-committed-contract-law-essay.php
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 2
Thank you so much I’ll use it as persuasive!!

Original post by sammorgan99
I can't find a British case, but there is the case below from New Zealand which I suppose you could use as persuasive? That's what i'll do but i'm hoping it's not going to come up in a big way.

in Hart (1986), D assaulted V, leaving her lying conscious on a beach below the high-water mark. V was subsequently drowned by the incoming tide. The court of appeal held that D had caused the death of the victim. A freak wave is an unpredictable event so it is likely to be unforeseeable and would have amounted to an intervening act in the case of Hart if V was left lying above high water mark. But in a situation in which an unconscious victim is left below the tide line and drowns when the tide comes in. This is a wholly foreseeable occurrence so it will not break the chain of causation. Even though the defendant did not drown the victim directly, he put the victim in a position where it was foreseeable that the victim would drown so liability would be established.Hope this helped somewhat.

Source: https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/causation-is-only-important-in-situation-where-a-crime-has-been-committed-contract-law-essay.php
Do you have a case number or full title of this case, Hart (1986)??

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