KYLIE STEELE v IVAN STEELE [1992] NSWCA 243

KYLIE STEELE v IVAN STEELE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KIRBY P CLARKE and HANDLEY JJA 24 March 1992, 24 March 1992

[1992] NSWCA 243

MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT — FACIAL INJURY — DAMAGES — INADEQUATE — NO QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE

Clarke JA This is an appeal by the plaintiff against a judgment of Judge Gallenin which he awarded her $31,926.65. Her complaint is that the general damages of $19,000, which were included within the judgment, were inadequate. It is clear from the amount of the verdict that the case is a relatively small one and, were it not for the concise nature of the judgment under appeal, I would have been inclined to deal with the appeal very shortly. I should say before I go any further that I do not wish to be seen to be criticising the Judge in referring to the concise nature of his judgment.

I think that the case did not call for a judgment of any substantially greater length than the one given by his Honour. Nevertheless when the matter comes on appeal and there is but a short judgment it is, I think, incumbent upon this Court to go into a little more detail.

The plaintiff was injured on 22 November 1981 when she was ten years old. She was a passenger involved in a head-on collision and sustained what could broadly be described as "injuries to her face". She was, at the time of the accident, in fifth form at school and before that time she had been a healthy young girl who liked to participate in sports, including netball, basketball and volleyball, and compete in Irish dancing.

In the accident she suffered the following injuries - dento-alveolar fracture of the anterior of the left and right maxilla, fracture of nasal bone, loss of the upper right central incisor, loosening of the upper right lateral incisor, loosening of the upper left lateral incisor, cracked fracture of the right infra-orbital region, marked generalised oedema in the midline of the forehead, right peri-orbital oedema, bruising of the right hip and right thigh.