Judgment
In 1842, the law’s only recognition of "negligence" was in respect of a breach of contract. As the plaintiff was not in a contract with the defendant the court ruled in favour of the defendant on the basis of the doctrine of privity of contract.
Winterbottom sought to extend the ratio of the court in Langridge v Levy but the court rejected this on the grounds that that case involved a gun whose safety had been misrepresented by the vendor.
The case was also possibly influenced by public policy. If the plaintiff were able to sue “there would be unlimited actions” and the public utility of the Postmaster-General was such that allowing such actions would be undesirable for society.
Read more about this topic: Winterbottom V Wright
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—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)