Watson v Meyer [2012] NSWDC 36

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Watson v Meyer [2012] NSWDC 36 Hearing dates: 5, 6, 7 and 8 December 2011; 6 and 7 February 2012; 3 April 2012 (oral submissions); 10 April 2012 (written submissions) Decision date: 16 April 2012 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the defendant. (2) Costs reserved. (3) Liberty to apply in relation to costs. (4) Exhibits to be retained until further order. Catchwords: TORT - negligence - Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) - plaintiff attacked by defendant's horse while both out riding on the plaintiff's property - duty of care - whether duty of care breached - whether particulars of negligence established - causation - defence of volenti non fit injuria pleaded at common law only - whether defendant could rely upon s 5G notwithstanding failure to plead reliance upon the statutory glosses to the common law defence - whether the Civil Liability Act covers the field - whether the parties were engaged in a dangerous recreational activity and the plaintiff was injured as a result of the materialisation of an obvious risk - s 69 and the effect of alleged admissions by the defendant - contributory negligence (ss 5R and S) - quantum Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), ss 5B, 5C 5D, 5F, 5G, 5H, 5I, 5L, 5R, 5S, 16 and 69 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 14.14 Cases Cited: Adams by her next friend O'Grady v State of New South Wales [2008] NSWSC 1257 Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Moubarak; Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Bou Najem (2009) 239 CLR 420 Angel v Hawkesbury City Council (2008) Aust Torts Reports ¶81-955 Bellingen Shire Council v Colavon Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 34 Canterbury Municipal Council v Taylor [2002] NSWCA 24 Carey v Lake Macquarie City Council [2007] NSWCA 4 CG Maloney Pty Ltd v Hutton-Potts [2006] NSWCA 136 Council of the City of Greater Taree v Wells [2010] NSWCA 147 Dare v Pulham (1982) 148 CLR 658 Doubleday v Kelly [2005] NSWCA 151 Insurance Commissioner v Joyce (1948) 77 CLR 39 Mackenzie v The Nominal Defendant (2005) 43 MVR 315 Osborne v London and North-Western Railway Company (1888) 21 QBD 220 Podrebersek v Australian Iron & Steel Pty Ltd (1985) 59 ALJR 492 Ranieri v Ranieri (1973) 7 SASR 418 Rootes v Shelton (1967) 116 CLR 383 Suncorp Insurance & Finance v Blakeney (1993) 18 MVR 361 Sydney South West Area Health Service v MD (2009) 260 ALR 702 Thompson v Woolworths (Queensland) Pty Ltd (2005) 221 CLR 234 Vertzayias v King [2011] NSWCA 215 Woodcroft-Brown v Timbercorp Securities Ltd (in liq) [2011] VSC 427 Wynbergen v Hoyts Corp Pty Ltd (1997) 149 ALR 25 Wyong Shire Council v Vairy; Mulligan v Coffs Harbour City Council (2004) Aust Torts Reports 81-754 Texts Cited: Flemming Law of Torts, 10th Edition 2011 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Lorna Watson Defendant: Alan Meyer Representation: Plaintiff: Graham Jones Lawyers Defendant: Stacks Southern Lawyers Plaintiff: Mr P S Jones Defendant: Mr J Wilson File Number(s): 2010/233997 Publication restriction: None