Walshe v Prest

The appeal concerned a claim in negligence brought by the respondent, Ms Walshe, against the appellant, Ms Prest, a childcare worker. Ms Walshe alleged that Ms Prest failed to exercise reasonable care in supervising her child, who was injured when struck by another child with a glass during a picnic. The primary judge found in favour of Ms Walshe, and Ms Prest appealed to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge had erred in inferring a failure to provide reasonable care on the part of Ms Prest, and whether any such error, if found, had occasioned a substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice, as contemplated by Part 51 rule 23 of the *Supreme Court Rules*. The court was also required to consider the primary judge's assessment of damages, specifically the calculation of future economic loss and future out-of-pocket expenses.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the primary judge's conclusion that Ms Prest had failed to exercise reasonable care was open on the evidence. The court held that the circumstances of the incident, including the presence of glass and the behaviour of the children, warranted a finding that the supervision provided was not of the standard expected of a reasonable childcare provider. Furthermore, the court found that even if there had been any technical error in the primary judge's reasoning, it did not amount to a substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice that would warrant overturning the decision. The assessment of damages was also upheld.