Because judges are called upon to make a lot of legal decisions, some of these decisions are inherently unusual, solved by unusual means, or both.

One of the most infamous cases in this regard is the Jaffa Cake case, where McVities baked a giant Jaffa Cake to prove that, despite being eaten like biscuits, they have the properties of cakes, which made them eligible for reduced VAT compared to chocolate-covered biscuits at the time.

However, one of the most fascinatingly unusual legal decisions the court has been asked to make was regarding the legal status of the popular pub game Darts in the city of Leeds in 1908.

At the time, gambling was illegal under the Gaming Act 1848, but for a game to be considered unlawful, it needed to be a game of chance, such as dice or cards, whilst games of skill, such as bowls and billiards (although the latter was still tightly controlled), were allowed.

Once darts became popular in Leeds in 1908, Jim Garside, the landlord of the Adelphi Inn, fitted a board for people to play. However, local magistrates were concerned that the game was a dangerous game of chance and summoned Mr. Garside to court on charges of allowing games of chance to be played.

Mr. Garside was asked to prove that darts was a game of skill as opposed to luck, and to help him with this, he recruited William “Bigfoot” Annakin, then considered to be the best darts player in Leeds.

The Justices of the Peace called out numbers for him to throw the darts at, and after hitting several targets in a row, they declared that darts were a legal game of skill, allowing it to be played so long as there were no wagers.

Its importance is sometimes overstated, given that the jurisdiction of the decision was limited to Leeds and its surrounding area, but it was still a fascinating landmark case that is still discussed and cited to this day when discussing more modern forms of gambling.

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