A publican's duty of care to patrons may extend beyond the physical boundaries of the licensed premises where the publican's control over the situation and the circumstances give rise to an apprehension of risk, but the duty requires an actual or constructive appreciation of danger. The failure to call a witness cannot found a positive inference unfavourable to a party contrary to competing inferences available from proven facts; it can only support an inference that the absent evidence would not have helped the party's case and make more readily acceptable the drawing of inferences otherwise available.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 7 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.