A shop owner whose premises are connected to a sewerage pipe running beneath a public footpath is not, without more, the 'occupier' of that pipe or its inspection shaft for the purposes of s.14B of the Wrongs Act 1958, where the pipe and shaft are located outside the property boundary. The mere fact that the pipe carries drainage exclusively from the shop owner's premises, or that a predecessor in title installed the pipe, does not establish occupancy. The principles in Ghantous regarding obvious hazards on footpaths may apply differently where the defendant is a private occupier rather than a public authority.
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