Two uni students, Stephen and Guy, go to the pub to celebrate the end of their exams.

Two uni students, Stephen and Guy, go to the pub to celebrate the end of their exams. They go 

downstairs to the bottom level, and since it’s only 3pm, they have the entire floor to themselves. They 

both drink several drinks and become intoxicated. They get into a heated argument about a very 

technical issue in Torts law, and Guy hits Stephen in the stomach. Angry, Stephen says, “If you do 

that again, I will lock you in that storage room over there,” and he points at a door called “Storage.” 

Still angry, Guy hits Stephen in the stomach again, and Stephen grabs Guy, drags him 5m across the 

floor of the pub, and then, still holding onto Stephen, opens the door with “Storage” on it, pushes 

Stephen inside, and slams the door. The door has no lock on it, so Guy drags over a chair and uses it 

to block the door. Inside, Stephen shouts, “Let me out!” but Guy ignores him, goes upstairs and runs 

out of the pub. Guy goes through the pub door and, not looking where he is going, runs onto the road. 

Unfortunately, Stacey is driving past at that time, and she hits Guy, injuring him badly. Stacey is also 

intoxicated at the time of the accident, with her blood alcohol 3 times the legal limit. When Guy’s mum 

sees Guy’s injuries at the hospital later that night, she experiences extreme shock and when she is 

examined three months later by a psychiatrist, is found to have PTSD. 

Stephen shouts “Let me out!” for a few more minutes but since the bottom floor is empty, nobody 

answers. Panicking, Stephen notices a window near the ceiling of the storage room. It is clearly 

broken and has a sign sticky-taped across it that states “Broken glass, do not touch.” Stephen stacks 

some boxes in front of the window, stands on the stack, which starts to wobble, tears off the sign and 

starts to push himself carefully through the window. Unfortunately, the pile of boxes collapses and he 

falls heavily on the broken glass, injuring himself badly. He slides onto the floor of the storeroom and 

waits for rescue. He is rescued an hour later. He has an anxiety disorder and being trapped inside the 

store-room triggers a panic attack, and Stephen misses his next semester of uni while recovering. He 

needs to see a psychiatrist twice per week for 15 weeks. 

Advise all parties as to rights and liabilities in tort.