DSN v Blackpool Football Club Ltd

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must assess whether it is equitable to permit a late personal-injury claim by weighing all the circumstances, including the claimant’s reasons for delay, the effect on evidential cogency and any real possibility of significant prejudice. A long delay and the likely value of the claim are not, by themselves, decisive.

Vicarious liability may arise where a tortfeasor is an unpaid volunteer whose relationship with the defendant is sufficiently akin to employment. The court applies a two-stage inquiry: whether the relationship is capable of giving rise to liability, and whether there is a sufficiently close connection between the entrusted activities and the tort.

DSN claimed damages for sexual abuse committed by Frank Roper during a youth football tour to New Zealand in 1987, when DSN was aged 13. Roper was deceased. DSN alleged that Blackpool Football Club Ltd was vicariously liable because Roper operated within the club’s youth recruitment structure and the tour was connected with the club.

The claim was issued in 2018, long after expiry of the primary limitation period. The issues were limitation, whether the abuse occurred, vicarious liability, psychiatric causation and damages.

1. Limitation. The court exercised the discretion under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980. DSN’s delay was substantially explained by trauma, shame, fear, repression of the memories and the serious deterioration in his mental health after disclosure. He acted promptly once he became able to recognise and report the abuse.
2. The delay exceeded 30 years, and Roper and another relevant witness had died. However, the available evidence was abundant, consistent and cogent. There was no real possibility of significant prejudice or an unfair trial. The claim’s likely monetary value was not a trump card, particularly after the full trial had already taken place. It was equitable to allow the action to proceed.
3. Abuse. DSN’s evidence was accepted without qualification. Roper sexually abused him in the circumstances alleged during the New Zealand tour.
4. Vicarious liability. Applying the two-stage approach in Various Claimants v Catholic Welfare Society [2012] UKSC 56, Cox v Ministry of Justice [2016] AC 660 and Mohamud v Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc [2016] AC 677, Roper’s relationship with Blackpool FC was capable of giving rise to vicarious liability. Although unpaid and without a contract, he was integrated into the club’s youth recruitment operation, performed work essential to its business and depended on the club’s authority and facilities.
5. The abuse was closely connected with that relationship. Roper used his position and the club’s credibility to obtain access to vulnerable boys. The New Zealand tour was effectively part of the club’s recruitment operation, despite not being an official club trip and despite the abuse being unauthorised and criminal. Blackpool FC was therefore vicariously liable.
6. The abuse was the primary causative factor in DSN’s later psychiatric difficulties. The court awarded £17,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, including aggravated damages within that sum, together with agreed special and future pecuniary losses of £2,071.98, subject to liability.