Key Point
- The fact that a job may involve the risk of physical harm does not imply consent.
Facts
- D, a young student suffering from ADHD, assaulted a teacher at a school for students with special needs.
- D alleged that the risk of assault had been impliedly consented to by the teacher as being part of her job.
Held (High Court)
- Appeal dismissed.
- Occupational risk was not the same as implied consent to the use of violence against them by pupils.
- An analogy to implied consent in contact sports to the risk of injury was rejected.
Commentary
- Contrast this case to Barnes which considered the application of implied consent in sport.
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