## Facts

- In July 1957, Doreen Ann Letang sunbathed on a grassy area used as a hotel car park in Cornwall.
- Frank Anthony Cooper drove into the car park, did not see her, and drove over her legs, causing personal injuries.
- On February 2, 1961 (more than three years after the accident), Letang sued for damages alleging (1) negligence and (2) trespass to the person.
- Letang accepted the negligence claim was outside the three-year limitation period and sought to proceed in trespass on the basis of a longer limitation period.

## Issues

1. Whether a claimant may sue in trespass to the person for personal injury caused unintentionally.
2. Whether a claim for negligently caused personal injuries is subject to the three-year limitation period even if pleaded as trespass to the person.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the defendant’s appeal and dismissed the action as statute-barred.
- Trespass to the person was confined to intentional interference; unintentional personal injury must be brought in negligence.
- Because the injury was unintentional and alleged to be careless driving, the claim fell within the statutory three-year limitation period for personal injury actions and was out of time.

## Legal Principles

- Trespass to the person (assault, battery, false imprisonment) requires intentional (or at least deliberate) interference with bodily integrity.
- Unintentional personal injury, including injury caused by direct physical impact, is actionable (if at all) in negligence, not trespass to the person.
- Statutory personal-injury limitation rules applying to “negligence, nuisance or breach of duty” cannot be avoided by re-labeling a negligence claim as trespass where the conduct alleged is unintentional.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeal treated intention as the key dividing line for personal injury torts: trespass to the person is reserved for intentional wrongdoing, while accidental injury must be pursued in negligence and is subject to the shorter statutory limitation period.


Letang v. Cooper, [1965] 1 Q.B. 232 (C.A.)