Dog walker wins £115,000 from friend after ‘ lively’ alsatian breaks her hip
IT started as a pleasant walk in the park for two dog- owning friends and their pets.
But it ended with one of them, Anne Finnie, 76, facing a bill for more than £200,000.
The pensioner thrust the lead of her German shepherd into the hand of her friend Kay Benstead, 60, so she could go into the park cafe to get their lunch.
However, the boisterous threeyear- old dog, called Lily, pulled suddenly at the lead, dragging Mrs Benstead backwards. The social worker fell, breaking her hip and arm, leaving her in agony.
As a result, Mrs Benstead sued Mrs Finnie for damages and yesterday was awarded £115,000 at the end of a three- day trial at Central London County Court.
Judge Peter Wulwick ruled that as well as paying compensation to Mrs Benstead for her injuries, Mrs Finnie should pay her legal costs – which could be as much as £100,000. He said Mrs Finnie had been negligent in thrusting Lily’s lead into her friend’s hand without first making sure the dog was under control.
The court heard that the two women had known each other ‘for some years’ as work colleagues before the incident in Trent Park, Enfield, North London, in February 2012.
They had sometimes met to walk their dogs in the park, and would stop for a coffee and food in the cafe. Mrs Finnie had owned dogs for years, but Mrs Benstead was a more cautious owner, the judge said.
She had to be persuaded by her daughter to buy Freya, the cockapoo she was walking that day. Her first dog, the cocker spaniel-poodle cross weighed only 24lb (11kg).
In contrast, Lily was a much bigger and more excitable dog, three times as heavy as Freya. Mrs Benstead said she had only ever stroked Lily once, when she was a puppy, and would never have agreed to hold such a large animal.
But when the pair decided to stop at the park cafe, Mrs Finnie ‘thrust’ Lily’s lead into her hand while she went to buy them coffee and food.
Mrs Finnie should have known the ‘young, large and lively’ German shepherd might injure her more dogwary friend, the judge said.
The loop of the lead tightened around Mrs Benstead’s fingers as Lily almost immediately began to strain at the leash, pulling her back.
‘The weight and force of the dog was too great and she fell over,’ Judge Wulwick said.
Mrs Benstead told the court she felt immense pain as the dog pulled the lead, twisting her arm behind her back.
‘My hand was pulled back and then I fell backwards,’ she said. ‘I closed my eyes and just tried to go with it. Then everything stopped.’
In her damages claim, she said her consent ‘was not asked for or given’ and if Mrs Finnie had asked her to take the dog on her own, she would have refused. Mrs Finnie told the court her friend ‘ had a chance to say no’ before the dog was handed over.
Ruling against the pensioner, Judge Wulwick said she had thrust the lead into Mrs Benstead’s hand from behind.
All she said was ‘take’ or ‘hold’, without making sure Lily was under control, and began to walk off.
‘She didn’t tell the dog to sit or stay. She didn’t ensure that Mrs Benstead was sitting down before leaving Lily with her. She didn’t anticipate that, in handing over the dog in the way she did, physical injury might well result.
‘In my view, she should have done so.’
Mrs Finnie was thus negligen, Judge Wulwick said, while Mrs Benstead was not at fault in any way for not letting go of the lead.
Last night at her £700,000 semi- detached home in Finchley, North London, Mrs Finnie said: ‘I’m sorry I don’t want to discuss the case.’
‘She had a chance to say no’