Khodor v Murphy [2024] NSWDC 364

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Khodor v Murphy [2024] NSWDC 364 Hearing dates: 25 March 2024 26 March 2024 Date of orders: 26 August 2024 Decision date: 26 August 2024 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Waugh SC DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the Defendant (2) Plaintiff to pay the Defendant's costs Catchwords: TORTS – Trespass to person – Assault – Battery – Self Defence - Civil Liability Act section 52 and 53 Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: Croucher v Cachia [2016] NSWCA 132, (2016) 95 NSWLR 117 Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118 Irlam v Byrnes [2022] NSWCA 81 Nevin v B & R Enclosures [2004] NSWCA 339 State of New South Wales v McMaster [2015] NSWCA 228 Texts Cited: Fleming's the Law of Torts (11th edition, 2024 by Sappideen and others) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mr Jihad Khodor (Plaintiff) Mr Mark Murphy (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr R Hanrahan (Plaintiff) Mr D Hanna (Defendant)

Solicitors: Morgan Ardino & Co Solicitors (Plaintiff) Ray Wehbe & Co (Defendant) File Number(s): 22/67897 Publication restriction: Nil

Judgment 1. Mr Khodor, the plaintiff, claims damages from Mr Murphy, the defendant, for assault. 2. Mr Murphy concedes that he punched Mr Khodor, but says that he only hit him once, in self-defence. 3. The facts about what happened at the time of the alleged assault are heavily contested. 4. The only witnesses to give evidence at the hearing were Mr Khodor and Mr Murphy. They each gave diametrically opposed accounts of the critical events. The two accounts cannot stand together. 5. Each claims that the other was the aggressor. 6. Both liability and quantum are in issue. I will address liability first.