Benjamin, a local villager, got a lift on his friend's boat to get from Port Nutela, their local town, to his home village on the island of Kokonas. His friend, James the owner of the boat also comes from Kokonas Island, and normally transport people from Port Nutela to the island or from the island to the Port whenever he has space on the boat. James never charged his relatives, but friends like Benjamin would normally contribute some form of payment towards the cost of fuel. The sea was fine when they left Port Nutela. However, half-way through the journey they came across some heavy swells, causing the boat to sway from side to side in an attempt to avoid the large waves. Unfortunately the boat was hit from the side by one of the waves, causing it to capsize. Benjamin was rescued with the other five people on the boat by a passing fisherman, but he lost a bundle of expensive locally woven mats that he was carrying. They were a present for his sister's wedding he was to attend the following day. He had had to let go of it in order to remain above the sea. Now Benjamin wants James to pay him the value of the mats (which is considerable for both of them). Benjamin claims that James should have provided lifejackets to his passengers, knowing the conditions of the sea in which they normally travel. Even if lifejackets are expensive, Benjamin has demonstrated that empty plastic drink-containers can be tied together with ordinary rope to make a device sufficiently buoyant to keep anyone afloat, including him with his bundle, even if there were no lifejackets. With such a thing to hold onto, he would not have had to let his bundle of mats go. Given there's an abundance of local supplies of plastics, James could have made these at almost no expense. a) Should Benjamin succeed if he sues James in negligence for the value of the lost mats? (4 Marks) b) A friend of Benjamin from Port Nutela, Boso, was on the boat too. He had come with his young son for the wedding. The son came very close to drowning, and indeed had stopped breathing when rescued. The son has since recovered from the incident, Boso, due to this experience, including the thought that he almost lost his son, has fallen into a state of mind that a USP psychology professor has diagnosed as 'depression'. He is otherwise uninjured. He too wants compensation, for this mental illness. If James is held to owe a duty of care to his passengers for their physical safety, should this duty also cover Boso's claim? 

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a Should Benjamin succeed if he sues James in negligence for the value of the lost mats To succeed in a negligence claim Benjamin must prove that Jame... View the full answer