Ahmed Elskaf v Khaled Ghalayini [2019] NSWDC 86

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ahmed Elskaf v Khaled Ghalayini [2019] NSWDC 86 Hearing dates: 20 & 21 November 2018 &3,4 & 12 December 2018 Date of orders: 29 March 2019 Decision date: 29 March 2019 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Strathdee DCJ Decision: (1) Verdict and judgment for the defendant against the plaintiff.

(2) Plaintiff to pay defendant's costs as agreed or assessed.

(3) Liberty to apply to my associate within 7 days if alternate costs orders are sought. Catchwords: TORTS – negligence – jet ski accident – claim by driver for physical and psychological injuries DAMAGES – non-economic loss - past and future out-of-pocket expenses – future loss of earning capacity – past and future domestic care and assistance – threshold for domestic care and assistance Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ahmed Elskaf (Plaintiff) Khaled Ghalayini (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr M Thompson Mr S Maybury Solicitors: Gerard Malouf & Partners DLA Piper File Number(s): 2017/325353

Judgment 1. By Statement of Claim filed in this Court on 27 October 2017 Ahmed Elskaf ("the plaintiff") seeks damages with regard to injuries that he sustained in a Jet Ski accident that occurred on 3 December 2016 on the Georges River, Revesby in the State of New South Wales. 2. It is alleged that on 3 December 2016 the plaintiff was riding his blue/black hulled Jet Ski, registration ATTN, in an anti-clockwise loop on a particular stretch of the Georges River, Revesby in a standard circuit that all riders seemed to be following. The route was detailed in the photographs that were provided and the plaintiff marked certain positions on the photographs to indicate where the collision occurred. 3. It seems that there is an unspoken agreement in this part of the river that all Jet Skis go anti-clockwise and keep to the right-hand side while travelling along either side of the river. 4. It is alleged that at a point in time when the plaintiff's vehicle was stationary the defendant's vehicle came into collision with the plaintiff's Jet Ski and the plaintiff was thrown from his craft. 5. The plaintiff was assisted out of the water back onto his craft and was taken to shore whereupon, an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital.