Thompson, Cecile v Renmote Mews Limited

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

IN THE CIVIL DIVISION

SUIT NO. CL.T-138 of 2001

BETWEEN CECILE THOMPSON

AND RENMOTE MEWS LIMITED

CLAIMANT

DEFENDANT

C Sylvester Morris for claimant.

~ o h nSi nclair. instructed by Raymond Clough of Clough, Long & Co for defendant

Heard: October 2,3,5 and December 15,2006

JONES, J:

[l] Few maxims .reflect the cynical aspects of life with as much resonance as Sod's law. It has

existed in many forms, through generation after generation, in varied cultures, for hundreds of

years. Simply put, it means "if anything can possibly go wrong, it will" to which has been added

C1 "and it will happen at the worst possible moment". Dermot Blake a director and former manager of

Renmote Mews Limited may be forgiven for believing that Sod's law is at work here. No sooner

had they completed the refurbishing and addition of a new wiug to the Sutton Place Hotel in New

Kingston, than they were met with both a complaint and claim from Cecile Thompson. Miss

Thompson, a paying guest at the hotel, slipped and fell in the bathtub of one of the newly

constructed rooms. She stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel many times before, usually, in the older

wing without coniplaint or incident. The events that followed the injury to Miss Thompson led to a

curious, if somewhat, undignified court battle.