Court case(1860) 5 H and N 679

The defendant railway company was authorised by statute to construct its railway and to run locomotive engines on it. Sparks from one of its engines set fire to a wood belonging to the plaintiff, which adjoined the railway line, and caused damage. There was no evidence that the company had failed to take any precaution that science and reasonable care could suggest to prevent the emission of sparks. The fire spread through the plaintiff's woodland adjoining the line. The plaintiff sued for the damage.

The Court of Exchequer Chamber held that the railway company was not liable. Since the legislature had authorised the use of locomotive engines, the company was not liable for damage caused by their use without negligence; it was bound only to take all reasonable precautions against the emission of sparks, and it had done so. To make it liable for the inevitable consequences of the authorised use would be to make unlawful what the statute had made lawful. Had negligence been proved, the statutory authority would not have protected the company.