Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd v Westley [2015] NSWSC 1292

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd v Westley [2015] NSWSC 1292 Hearing dates: 31 August 2015; further written submissions 2 September 2015 Decision date: 03 September 2015 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Stevenson J Decision: Plaintiff not entitled to trace funds misappropriated by the defendant into funds in court; plaintiff entitled to equitable compensation and judgment against defendant equal to the amount of the misappropriation; parties to bring in short minutes Catchwords: EQUITY – funds misappropriated by defendant employee from plaintiff employer – whether particular funds used for plaintiff's benefit; REMEDIES – whether plaintiff entitled to trace misappropriated monies into funds in court – whether funds in court should be paid out to plaintiff or to competing creditors of the defendant – whether defendant entitled to a credit in respect of GST input credits Legislation Cited: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Black v S Freedman & Co [1910] HCA 58; 12 CLR 105 Foskett v McKeown [2001] 1 AC 102 Gagner Pty Ltd (t/as Indochine Cafe) v Canturi Corporation Pty Ltd [2009] NSWCA 413 Robb Evans of Robb Evans & Associates v European Bank Ltd [2004] NSWCA 82; 61 NSWLR 75 Wambo Coal Pty Ltd v Ariff [2007] NSWSC 589 Westdeutsche Landesbank [Girozentrale] v Islington London Borough Council [1996] AC 669 Texts Cited: P W Young, C Croft and M L Smith, On Equity, (2009, Lawbook Co.) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd (Plaintiff) Luke Christopher Westley (Defendant) Shauntelle Benjamin (First Interested Party) Shannon Brown (Second Interested Party) Julia Dray (Third Interested Party) Kimberly Hodgson (Fourth Interested Party) Owen Little (Fifth Interested Party)) Alice Osborn (Sixth Interested Party) Matthew Predney (Seventh Interested Party) Nicholas Richard (Eighth Interested Party) Justin Smith (Ninth Interested Party) Riley Sutton (Tenth Interested Party) Brody Toombs (Interested Party) Rowena Vila (Twelfth Interested Party) Representation: Counsel: C N Bova (Plaintiff) B Green (Defendant) M Gaven (Interested Parties)