BOTTOMLEY v GIO [1995] NSWCA 56

BOTTOMLEY v GIO

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

MAHONEY and MEAGHER JJA 15 March 1995, 15 March 1995 [1995] NSWCA 56

ECONOMIC LOSS, PAST AND FUTURE — FINDING ON PLAINTIFF'S CREDIBILITY FACTS: The plaintiff/appellant appealed an award of damages for past and future economic loss by challenging the findings of the Court below as to the credibility of the plaintiff/appellant. HELD: (1) The findings of the judge below were fairly open on the evidence and are not appealable.

ORDERS: (1) Appeal dismissed with costs.

Meagher JA The plaintiff, Mr Bottomley, sued the defendant for injuries suffered by him in a motor vehicle accident on 14 September 1986. He claimed he had suffered personal injuries and extensive economic loss both past and future. He alleges he had lost earnings which otherwise he would have made. His Honour awarded him a verdict of $22,000. That seems to be composed of the following items:

Out-of-pocket expenses past and future $9,500, general damages $12,500.

There was a specific finding by his Honour that there was no economic loss, past or future. Some incapacity may have existed but apparently not, according to his Honour, so as to result in financial loss.

In order to come to this conclusion his Honour took a very dismal view of the plaintiff's credibility. In fact I have rarely seen, in civil litigation, findings as adverse to a plaintiffs credibility as those made by his Honour. His Honour in effect found he was a liar, fraud and cheat, a person who hoodwinked some of his doctors and tried to hoodwink the court. He found almost all of his case was a fabrication and even went to the lengths of saying it was unjust to award him any damages at all. All these findings, melancholy though they be were open to his Honour.

Mr Evans did his best to challenge his Honour's findings while conceding, as he had to, that his Honour's judgment on credibility was unimpeachable.