The Queensland Court of Appeal (majority) held that a supermarket occupier owed a duty of care to shoppers to take reasonable steps to address a child's dangerous behaviour with a shopping trolley where staff knew or ought to have known the child had been acting uncontrollably for a prolonged period, even though the child was accompanied by a parent. The majority upheld the trial judge's finding that the supermarket breached its duty by failing to intervene despite the child's behaviour being observable for approximately 30-45 minutes prior to the incident. The Court also considered whether the trial judge had discretion to award costs on the District Court scale where damages were within Magistrates Court jurisdiction, with McPherson JA dissenting on the outcome of the appeal.
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