State Rail Authority of NSW v Luckwell [2000] NSWCA 223

New South Wales Court of Appeal

CITATION : State Rail Authority of NSW v Luckwell [2000] NSWCA 223 FILE NUMBER(S) : CA 40202/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 8 August 2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 18 August 2000

PARTIES : State Rail Authority of New South Wales v Darren Wayne Luckwell JUDGMENT OF : Priestley JA at 1; Heydon JA at 57; Foster AJA at 58

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT DC 5210/97 FILE NUMBER(S) : LOWER COURT Acting Judge George JUDICIAL OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Appellant - J.L. Sharpe Respondent - A.C. Bridge SC / A. McSpedden SOLICITORS : Appellant - Gillis Delaney Brown Respondent - Marsdens CATCHWORDS : Negligence - personal injuries - liability and quantum LEGISLATION CITED : Supreme Court Rules CASES CITED: Devries v Australian National Railways Commission (1993) 177 CLR 472 State Rail Authority of NSW v Earthline Constructions Pty Ltd (1999) 73 ALJR 306 DECISION : Appeal dismissed with costs

THE SUPREME COURT

OF NEW SOUTH WALES

COURT OF APPEAL

CA 40202/99 DC 5210/97

PRIESTLEY JA HEYDON JA FOSTER AJA

Friday, 18 August 2000

STATE RAIL AUTHORITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES v LUCKWELL

NEGLIGENCE - PERSONAL INJURIES - LIABILITY AND QUANTUM APPEAL.

The plaintiff fell under one of the defendant's trains from a platform at Glenfield Station. The trial judge held the accident was caused by the plaintiff's losing his footing on the negligently uneven platform. In its appeal the defendant submitted that the circumstances of the accident were both unlikely and impossible to reconcile with objectively established facts. Various errors were said to have been made by the trial judge in assessing quantum.