Ashrafi Persian Trading Co Pty Ltd v Ashrafinia

Ashrafi Persian Trading Co Pty Ltd (the occupier) appealed a judgment in favour of the plaintiff, Mr. Ashrafinia, who had suffered injuries while a guest at the occupier's motel. The dispute concerned the occupier's liability in negligence for injuries sustained by the plaintiff when a third party, acting criminally, reached through a gap in the sliding door of the plaintiff's motel room and struck him on the head with an iron bar while he was sleeping. The appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the occupier owed a duty of care to the plaintiff to prevent injury from the criminal actions of a third party, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. This involved considering the scope of an occupier's liability for the conduct of third parties on their premises, particularly in circumstances where the third party's actions were criminal and unforeseeable in their specific manifestation.

The Court of Appeal found that while an occupier owes a duty of care to its guests to take reasonable steps to protect them from foreseeable harm, this duty does not extend to preventing all criminal acts by third parties. The court reasoned that the occupier's duty was to take reasonable precautions against foreseeable risks of injury. In this instance, the specific method by which the assault occurred – reaching through a gap in the door – was not a foreseeable risk that the occupier could reasonably have been expected to guard against. The court distinguished this from situations where an occupier might be liable for failing to prevent a known or foreseeable risk of violence on the premises.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the judgment in favour of the plaintiff. The court concluded that the occupier had not breached its duty of care to the plaintiff, as the criminal act of the third party was not a foreseeable risk that required specific preventative measures by the motel.