BARN BLOWN AWAY

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29972, 6 November 1962, Page 12

BARN BLOWN AWAY

Farmer's Appeal Fails A farmer whose new hay barn blew away in a high wind must still pay the builder the £l7l it cost to put it up, Mr Justice Henry held in a reserved judgment yesterday, upholding a Magistrate’s decision.

Randolph Holdings, Ltd., a farming company of Amberley, had appealed against a Magistrate’s finding in favour of the building contractor, Charles Dodsworth Rudd, for payment for the barn. Mr Justice Henry dismissed the appeal. His Honour said the Magistrate had held that the probabilities were against the damage having been caused by a breach of the building contract. It was the Magistrate’s opinion that its cause was a freak gust of wind. His Honour said he was unable to say that the Magistrate was wrong in that decision, and in holding that even if there was no variation between the work and the specifications, the damage would still have occurred. “There does not, it seems to me, seem to be any obligation on the contractor in the circumstances of this case to build a structure which would withstand such a freak gust.” His Honour said he was not satisfied that the evidence of the contractor’s expert builder was unsound evidence. If his evidence was accepted, then it seemed the Magistrate’s judgment ought not to be disturbed. Mr J. R. Woodward appeared for the farming company, and Mr R. J. de Goldi for the contractor.