fire a gun into another's soil [PICKERING v. RUDD (1815) 171 ER 70], to drive nail into the soil [SIMPSON v. WEBER (1925) 133 LT 46], or place a ladder against a wall [WESTRIPP v. BALDOCK {1939} 1 All ER 279]. It is essential for liability in trespass that the placing or projecting of the object on to the plaintiff's land should be direct. One can trespass into another's land unknowingly. In order to claim and win a case in trespass, it is not necessary to prove that the plaintiff has suffered any damage or loss. This is one of the major differences between an action in trespass and actions in Negligence and Nuisance where loss and damage have to be proved. For this reason it is often said that trespass is actionable per se . [page 299 BEARDSMORE, V., and COX, A., Opinion Writing and Drafting in Tort, Cavendish Publishing Limited, 1996]. The Tort is actionable per se ie actionable without proving damage. Where the defendant's entry is intentional ie he consciously sits, walks, rides or otherwise places himself upon the plaintiff's land, he will be liable in trespass and it is no defence that he honestly believed that he was on his own land. Where the entry is unintentional, eg X's car skids off the road onto plaintiff's land, here the plaintiff cannot recover in trespass. The tort of trespass to land protects a person's possession of land against wrongful interference. It stems from the writ of trespass quare clausum fregit and has the same elements as other forms of trespass. It involves only direct interferences with the Plaintiff's possession of land, is actionable without proof of actual damage.
