Walsh v Securicor (Ireland) Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: EGAN J.
• Judgment Date: 16 March 1993
• Neutral Citation: 1993 WJSC-SC 1483
• Docket Number: [S.C. No. 179 of 1989]],(179/89)
• Court: Supreme Court
• Date: 16 March 1993

1993 WJSC-SC 1483

THE SUPREME COURT

Finlay C.J.

Hederman J.

Egan J.

Blayney J.

Denham J.

(179/89)

WALSH v. SECURICOR (IRL) LTD

BETWEEN/

NOEL WALSH

Plaintiff/Respondent

and

SECURICOR (IRELAND) LTD.

Defendants/Appellants

Citations:

RYAN V IRELAND, AG & MIN FOR DEFENCE 1989 IR 187

Synopsis:

EMPLOYMENT

Employee

Safety - Employer - Duty - Breach - Security firm - Bank - Branches - Money - Deliveries - Times - Regularity - Police escort - Armed robbery - Plaintiff employee of defendant security firm - Plaintiff injured by robbers - Robbery facilitated by rigid adherence to route and timing of deliveries - (179/89 - Supreme Court - 16/3/93) - [1993] 2 I.R. 507

|Walsh v. Securicor (Ireland) Ltd.|

NEGLIGENCE

Employer

Security firm - Bank - Branches - Money - Deliveries - Times - Regularity - Police escort - Armed robbery - Plaintiff employee of defendant security firm - Plaintiff injured by robbers - Robbery facilitated by rigid adherence to route and timing of deliveries - (179/89 - Supreme Court - 16/3/93) - [1993] 2 I.R. 507

|Walsh v. Securicor (Ireland) Ltd.|

1 JUDGMENT delivered on the 16th day of March 1993by EGAN J. [NEM DISS]

2 This is an appeal from a finding of negligence on the part of the defendants made by Barrington J. In the course of his judgment he stated as follows:-

"This case arises out of an ambush which took place on the 14th of April, 1983 on a Securicor armoured vehicle. The ambush was carried out with ruthless military precision and involved an attack not only upon the Securicor van but also upon the Garda escort which the robbers succeeded in neutralising so far as the protection of the van wasconcerned".

3 On the date in question in the course of his employment with the defendants the plaintiff having collected a large amount of money from a bank in Cork City was driving the van on the road from Cork to Cobh with the object that he would deliver money to clients or customers of the defendants including smaller banks and the Post Office in Cobh. He had another employee of the defendants with him in the van.

4 He suddenly found in the course of his journey that the road in front of him was blocked by a tractor and the road behind him was cut off and bullets were being fired at him through the windscreen which began to shatter. He was eventually forced to open the door of the van and was hit on the head with what he believed to be the butt-end of a rifle. He was knocked unconscious. The robbers then made off with most of the money in the van.

5 The learned judge went on to say:-

"All the experts on security who have given evidence before me are satisfied that the ambushwas one which could not have been carried out without planning and foreknowledge of the movements of the armed vehicle in question, which had been passing along this route towards Cobh with proper precision about the hour of 10 a.m. every Thursday morning for the previous seven years. The route was known to both the defendant company and to the police...