Leonard Hastings Ainsworth v Leslie James [2005] NSWSC 338

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Leonard Hastings Ainsworth v Leslie James [2005] NSWSC 338

HEARING DATE(S) : 01/04/05

JUDGMENT DATE : 1 April 2005

JUDGMENT OF : Greg James J at 1

DECISION : Motion for a permanent stay of proceedings is dismissed.

CATCHWORDS : Civil proceedings - defamation - application for permanent stay - defendant seriously ill and seeks stay for that reason - not an abuse for plaintiff to proceed - application dismissed.

Plaintiff-Leonard Hastings Ainsworth PARTIES : Defendant- Leslie James

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 021216/1996

Plaintiff-R.R.Stitt QC, T.D. Blackburn SC COUNSEL : Defendant- C.A.Evatt, R. Rasmussen

Plaintiff-Priddle Gosling SOLICITORS : Defendant-Hunt and Hunt Lawyers

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION :

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION GREG JAMES J FRIDAY 1 APRIL 2005

No 021216/1996 LEONARD HASTINGS AINSWORTH v. LESLIE JAMES BURDEN

JUDGMENT Re stay application of proceedings. 1 HIS HONOUR: Application has been made by motion for a permanent stay of proceedings in a defamation action brought by Mr Ainsworth who I will, in summary terms, describe for the purposes of this judgment as a poker machine manufacturer. The proceedings are against Mr Burden who I will summarily describe, for the purposes of this judgment, as a former police officer.

2 It is alleged by Mr Ainsworth against Mr Burden that Mr Burden, after his retirement from the police, wrote a letter to the then serving Minister for Police in which Mr Burden defamed him.

3 The proceedings in respect of that letter were commenced in 1996. The letter was written in 1993. There has been, so I am told, a deal of litigation between Mr Ainsworth and the police and many applications and appeals in the present piece of litigation between Mr Burden and Mr Ainsworth. Mr Burden and Mr Ainsworth's present proceedings are set down for trial, to commence on Monday, that is, 4 April 2005.