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- On the evening of Sunday 26 August, 1928 Mrs. May Donoghue took a thirty-minute tram ride from Glasgow to Paisley. She met a friend at the Wellmeadow Café, who purchased her an iced drink made from ice cream and ginger beer. The bottle bore the name of its manufacturer, 'D. Stevenson, Glen Lane, Paisley' and was a dark, opaque colour
- Mrs. Donoghue claimed after she had consumed most of the ginger beer she saw the remains of a badly decomposed snail float out of the bottle that was being poured into her glass by her friend.
- In the following days Mrs. Donoghue became ill and upon seeking treatment was diagnosed with severe gastroenteritis and shock.
- Mrs. Donoghue took legal action against David Stevenson, the ginger beer manufacturer. Her chances of success seemed limited. She could not sue Stevenson for breach of contract as she herself did not purchase the drink. It was also unlikely she could prove Stevenson had sold her a dangerous product or knew that his products were defective.
- Instead her solicitor Mr. Walter Leechman claimed Stevenson owed a duty to his consumers to take reasonable care to ensure his products were safe for human consumption. The first judge, in this case, Lord Moncrieff, decided in favour of Mrs Donoghue, but the Scottish Court of Session, Second Division dismissed Mrs. Donoghue's argument that she was owed a duty of care.
- The only court that was able to hear an appeal was the House of Lords in London, which was very expensive. As she could not afford to pay any security in the case of losing her appeal, Mrs. Donoghue needed to prove she was a pauper to have her case heard. Her petition described her poverty. In the House of Lords on 26 May 1932, Lord Atkin arose to deliver a judgment that would have a lasting impact on society. His decision established that a manufacturer of a product owed a consumer a duty of care.
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