Spedding v State of New South Wales [2022] NSWSC 1627

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Spedding v State of New South Wales [2022] NSWSC 1627 Hearing dates: 26-29 April, 2-4 May, 17 August 2022 Date of orders: 01 December 2022 Decision date: 01 December 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Harrison J Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff for $1,484,292 plus interest on those heads of damage that attract interest. (2) Direct the parties within 7 days to provide my Associate with a minute of an order calculating interest in accordance with these reasons. (3) Order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs. Catchwords: TORTS – malicious prosecution – whether prosecutor acted without reasonable and probable cause – whether prosecutor did not honestly form the view that there were proper cases for prosecution or whether the prosecutor formed that view on an insufficient basis. TORTS – malicious prosecution – whether prosecutor acted maliciously – whether the sole or dominant purpose of the prosecutor was other than the proper invocation of the criminal law Legislation Cited: Bail Act 2013 (NSW), s 18 Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), Pt 2, ss 3B, 11, 11A, 16 Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1967 (NSW), s 2 Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), Ch 3, Pt 2, Div 1 Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986 (NSW), s 9(4)(a) Law Reform (Vicarious Liability) Act 1983 (NSW), s 8(1) Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW), s 7 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 36.7(1) Cases Cited: A v New South Wales (2007) 230 CLR 500; [2007] HCA 10 Attorney-General v Niania [1994] 3 NZLR 106 (HC) Beckett v State of New South Wales [2015] NSWSC 1017 Cornwall v Rowan (2004) 90 SASR 269; [2004] SASC 384 Davis v Gell (1924) 35 CLR 275; [1924] HCA 56 De Reus v Gray (2003) 9 VR 432; [2003] VSCA 84 Ea v Diaconu [2019] NSWSC 795 Ea v Diaconu (2020) 102 NSWLR 351; [2020] NSWCA 127 Edwards v State of New South Wales [2021] NSWSC 181 Gray v Motor Accident Commission (1998) 196 CLR 1; [1998] HCA 70 Haynes by her tutor Karen Lindley v Haynes [2022] NSWSC 581 Lamb v Cotogno (1987) 164 CLR 1; [1987] HCA 47 MBP (SA) Pty Limited v Gogic (1991) 171 CLR 657; [1991] HCA 3 Murray v Commonwealth of Australia (1985) 5 NSWLR 83 New South Wales v Ibbett (2006) 229 CLR 638; [2006] HCA 57 Northern Territory of Australia v Mengel (1995) 185 CLR 307; [1995] HCA 65 Nye v State of New South Wales (2004) AusTorts Reports 81-725; [2003] NSWSC 1212 Rock v Henderson [2021] NSWCA 155 Roman v Commonwealth (2004) 16 NTLR 80; [2004] NTSC 9 Savile v Roberts (1698) 91 ER 1147 State of New South Wales v Abed (2014) 246 A Crim R 549; [2014] NSWCA 419 State of New South Wales v Bouffler (2017) 95 NSWLR 521; [2017] NSWCA 185 State of New South Wales v Cuthbertson (2018) 99 NSWLR 120; [2018] NSWCA 320 State of New South Wales v Ibbett (2005) 65 NSWLR 168; [2005] NSWCA 445 State of New South Wales v Landini [2010] NSWCA 157 State of New South Wales v Quirk [2012] NSWCA 216 State of New South Wales v Riley (2003) 57 NSWLR 496; [2003] NSWCA 208 State of New South Wales v Zreika [2012] NSWCA 37 Uren v John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd (1966) 117 CLR 118 Varawa v Howard Smith & Co Ltd (1911) 13 CLR 35; [1911] HCA 46 Walter v Alltools (1944) 61 TLR 39 Texts Cited: R P Balkin and J L R Davis, The Law of Torts (4th ed, 2009, Butterworths) Category: Principal judgment Parties: William Harrie Spedding (Plaintiff) State of New South Wales (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: A Canceri with T O'Rourke (Plaintiff) A Williams with B Searson (Defendant)