You’ll note I’ve been somewhat deliberately vague on details. I would encourage others to do the sameWe don't actually know what happened & the belayer may have agreed to being sued, so he could claim on the insurance (I'm not saying that is what happened either - newspaper reports are invariably incorrect somewhere along the line)
Already discussed to no real conclusions at time of reports:Sue - someone sues you for damages of some sort. They will take you to court. Prosecute - being prosecuted for a crime you committed. The government /police charge you for it whatever the crime is.
a belayer had a legal responsibility,
Everyone owes a duty of care to people they could (or should) reasonably expect to cause harm to by their acts or omissions (failure to act). This isn't just something that applies at work. The duty of care applies to everyday life. If you go around being careless, inside or outside of work, it could have consequences.
The duty of care is a legal expression. It is a persons responsibility not to harm others through carelessness. In simple terms, it means that we all must take care to avoid doing something that could hurt someone else. The courts established a duty of care to give people a way of bringing claims against people who have harmed them.
You may be more familiar with the term negligence. Negligence is the term used when the duty of care is breached. If someone is negligent, then it means that they have failed in the duty of care they owed to someone, and that has caused damage to that person.
Way back in the days the BMC CEO would answer a question 🤣I don't believe it was outdoor sport related, but noting that a payment was awarded that was greater than BCA max - usually relate to injuries needing permanent hospital care
very old post on BMC payouts: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/crag_access/bmc_public_liabilitypersonal_accident_insurance-61132