Davis v Viglianti [2017] NSWDC 452

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Davis v Viglianti [2017] NSWDC 452 Hearing dates: 9, 10 and 27 October 2017 Date of orders: 15 December 2017 Decision date: 15 December 2017 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff for $444,596. (2) Defendant pay plaintiff's costs. (3) The asset freezing order made on 10 October 2017 (in relation to the plaintiff's notice of motion filed on 6 October 2017) continued until further order. (4) Liberty to restore in relation to interest, the asset freezing order currently in place and costs. (5) Exhibits retained for 28 days. Catchwords: TORT - claim for negligence, assault and battery - police attend plaintiff's premises late at night in response to concerns the plaintiff may self-harm - police officer ascends ladder to look into the plaintiff's window after a rope is seen dangling from the ceiling - police officer suffers injury putting his hand on the window sill due to razor blades embedded in the sill - whether defendant engaged in conduct that constituted in law a battery - whether the defendant was recklessly indifferent to the foreseeability of injury by leaving razor blades in the sill - claim for general, aggravated and exemplary damages - claim for economic loss - claim for domestic assistance - damages of $444,596 awarded Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2005 (NSW), ss 3B, 5B Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 140 Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW), s 9 Cases Cited: Barker v R (1983) 47 ALR 1 BJ v Wilcox [2008] NSWSC 1332 Cheng v Ferjudi (2016) 93 NSWLR 95 Croucher v Cachia [2016] NSWCA 132 Dean v Phung [2012] NSWCA 223 Gray v Motor Accident Commission (1998) 158 ALR 485 McGlen-McLeod v Galloway [2012] NSWCA 368 New South Wales v Le [2017] NSWCA 290 Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Dederer (2007) 238 ALR 761 Smith v Copper Refineries Pty Ltd (Supreme Court of Queensland, Cullinane J, 7 September 1994) State of New South Wales v Bouffler [2017] NSWCA 185 State of New South Wales v Exton [2017] NSWCA 294 White v Johnson (2015) 87 NSWLR 779 Woodley v Boyd [2001] NSWCA 35 Zeppelin v Commonwealth of Australia [2002] NSWSC 228 Texts Cited: Ipp, D., "Problems with Fact-Finding", (2006) 80 Australian Law Journal 667 Stickley, A., "The Importance of Intention", (2016) 13(7) CL 104 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Adam Davis Defendant: Giancarlo Joseph Viglianti Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr B J Symons Defendant: Mr A Duc