Anne M. Mullins

The appellant's five-year-old child started a fire in their apartment building using a cigarette lighter.

The apartment owner and an adjoining tenant sued the appellant for negligence.

A jury found the appellant negligent for failing to supervise her children, specifically by failing to warn them of the danger of fire after a neighbour reported seeing them playing with matches the night before.

The appellant appealed the jury's verdict.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding it was open to the jury to accept the neighbour's evidence and conclude the appellant was negligent.

The defendants, a church parish and a seniors' residence, sought a stay of execution of a trial judgment that handed control of the parish to the plaintiff Diocese after a failed attempt by the parish to secede.

Following the judgment, the Diocese took control and filed a notice of abandonment of the appeal.

The moving party sought to strike the abandonment and stay the judgment to use parish funds for the appeal.

The court dismissed the stay motion and allowed the notice of abandonment to stand, noting that the true protagonists (the seceding individuals) should seek intervenor status to pursue the appeal at their own expense rather than using parish funds.