Farrell v Alliance and Dublin Consumers' Gas Company

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1939
• Date: 01 January 1939
• Court: Circuit Court

(Cir. Ct.),

Farrell

and

Alliance and Dublin Consumers' Gas Co

Res ipsa loquitur - Onus of proof - Evidence as consistent with accident as with negligence.

A fire which occurred in a coal hole of the residence of the plaintiffs damaged a gas meter which had been installed in such residence on the hire purchase system by the defendants 12 months prior to the accident, the previous meter having been removed by the defendants on the plaintiff's complaint that it was leaking. No complaint had been made in respect of the new meter and no examination had been made by the defendants since the installation of either the meter or adjoining fittings. The damage caused by the fire was greatest around the meter and the inlet and outlet pipes, but it was uncertain whether the fire started outside or inside the meter. Held: that when the plaintiffs proved that the fire could have originated only in the meter or in its...