Chris Pamplin reports on the case of the forgetful surveyor
In 1952, Mr Marshall owned a bungalow and a pig-holding. He wanted to sell the bungalow to James Ladd for £2,500 but was in some difficulty because his local council had ruled that the most he could sell it for was £1,500. After some interesting events—including Ladd putting down a £50 deposit and counting out 10 bundles of £100 in notes on the carpet under the table—Marshall took the property off the market. Litigation loomed as Ladd sought to recover his £1,000.
At the first instance trial, Marshall denied any knowledge of the £1,000 and, with Mrs Marshall suffering from a distinct lack of clarity about what happened that night, Ladd failed to convince the judge of the existence of the transaction. But then the Marshalls fell out, divorced and Mrs Marshall’s memory improved enormously. So it was that Ladd took his claim to the Court of Appeal and gave Denning LJ the opportunity to establish, in Ladd v Marshall [1954] 3 All
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