Bevan v Coolahan [2018] NSWDC 410

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bevan v Coolahan [2018] NSWDC 410 Hearing dates: 5, 6, 7 and 10 October 2016; 27, 28, 29 and 30 November 2017; 1, 4 and 5 December 2017; 6 March 2018; 18 and 24 April 2018; 2 May 2018 (written submissions) Date of orders: 31 August 2018 Decision date: 31 August 2018 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the defendants. (2) Plaintiff pay defendants' costs. (3) Liberty to apply in relation to costs. (4) Exhibits retained for 28 days. Catchwords: TORT – motor vehicle accident – plaintiff's injuries as a passenger suffered while travelling for the purpose of buying and injecting drugs prohibited under s 10 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) – whether the plaintiff was, in terms of the common law defence of joint illegal enterprise, a party to any criminal conduct – impact of failure to plead s 54 Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) – contributory negligence – judgment for the defendant Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), ss 3A, 3B, 5R, 5S, 54 and Part IA, Div 8 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 14 and 56 Criminal Code (WA), s 8 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), ss 10, 11, 12, 19 and 25 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 41, 128 and 135 Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW), s 138 Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW), ss 111 and 112 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 14.14, 31.10 and 31.28 Cases Cited: ACCC v Air New Zealand Ltd (No 5) (2012) 301 ALR 352 Australian Postal Commission v Hayes (1989) 23 FCR 320 BHP Pty Co Ltd v Mason (1996) 67 SASR 456 Capar v SPG Investments Pty Ltd t/a Lidcombe Power Centre (No 1) [2017] NSWSC 1371 Captain v Wosomo [2017] 1 Qd R 222 Clipsal Australia Pty Ltd v Clipso Electrical Pty Ltd (No 3) [2017] FCA 60 Cook v Cook (1986) 162 CLR 376 Crescent Funds Management (Aust) Ltd v Crescent Capital Partners Management Pty Ltd [2017] FCAFC 2 Cummins Generator Technologies Germany GmbH v Johnson Controls Australia Pty Ltd (2015) 326 ALR 556 Foong v Ghaly [2017] NSWDC 303 Gala v Preston (1991) 172 CLR 243 Ghunaim v Bart [2004] NSWCA 28 Glover v Australian Ultra Concrete Floors [2003] NSWCA 80 Godbolt v Fittock (1963) 63 SR (NSW) 617 Goodsell v Murphy (2002) 36 MVR 408 Hall v Van der Poel [2009] NSWCA 436 Halpin v Lumley General Insurance Ltd (2009) 78 NSWLR 265 Harrison v Melhem (2008) 72 NSWLR 380 Holland v Tarlinton (New South Wales Court of Appeal, 18 December 1989, Kirby P, Meagher JA, Hope A-JA) Hunter v Transport Accident Commission 2005 VSCA 1 Ingot Capital Investments Pty Ltd v Macquarie Capital Markets Limited [2004] NSWSC 40 Ingot Capital Investments Pty Ltd v Macquarie Equity Capital Markets Ltd [2008] NSWCA 206 Jackson v Harrison (1978) 138 CLR 438 Jones v Bradley [2003] NSWCA 81 Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 Kingham v Cole (2002) 76 ALD 389 Latimer v Day [2015] NSWSC 11 Let's Go Adventures Pty Ltd v Barrett [2018] NSWCA 243 Markus v Provincial Insurance Co Ltd (1983) 25 NSWCCR 1 McCracken v Smith [2013] EWHC 3620 QB McGuinness v Kellog Co of GB Ltd [1988] 2 All ER 902 McPherson v Whitfield [1996] 1 Qd R 474 Merhi v Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd [2014] VSCA 328 Miller v Galderisi [2009] NSWCA 353 Miller v Miller [2011] HCA 9; (2011) 242 CLR 446 Mundy v GIO of New South Wales (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Spender AJ, 5 June 1995) Naylor v Preston Area Health Authority [1987] 1 WLR 958 Nowlan v Marson Transport Pty Ltd [2001] NSWCA 346 Oliveri v Administrative Appeals Tribunal (1997) 50 ALD 190 Osland v R (1998) 197 CLR 316 Palavi v Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd (2012) 84 NSWLR 523 Palavi v Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 264 Podrebersek v Australian Iron & Steel Pty Ltd (1985) 59 ALR 529 Presidential Security Services of Australia Pty Ltd v Brilley [2008] NSWCA 204 Quine v Keerasawat [2014] WADC 150 Rashid v Munir & Ors [2018] EWHC 1258 Re Applicant and Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (1995) 41 ALD 683 Robbins v Harbord (1994) 62 SASR 229 Shape Shopfitters Pty Ltd v Shape Australia Pty Ltd (No 2) [2017] FCA 474 Vale v Eggins (2006) 46 MVR 514 Watson v Meyer [2013] NSWCA 243 Wells v Council of City of Orange (No 2) [2017] NSWSC 510 Wills v Bell & Ors [2002] QCA 419 Woodcroft-Brown v Timbercorp Securities Ltd (in liq) [2011] VSC 427 Yates v Jones (1990) Aust Torts Reports 81-009 Yip v Zreika (2001) 35 MVR 305 Texts Cited: Australian Law Reform Commission, Uniform Evidence Law (ALRC 102) Dietrich, J., "Papers from the Tort Law Academic Workshop: Teaching torts in the age of statutes and globalisation" (2010) 18 TLJ 141 Goudkamp, J., "The Defence of Joint Illegal Enterprise" (2010) 34 Melbourne University Law Review 425 Kwai, I., "What he did on his Summer Break: exposed a worldwide security flaw", New York Times, 30 January 2018 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Chloe Bevan First Defendant: Jake David Coolahan Second Defendant: Kurt John O'Connell Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr M Maxwell Defendant: Mr J Poulos QC / Mr B Wilson