Hobona Pty Limited & Anor v Richard Gremmo

Hobona Pty Limited and another (the claimants) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a verdict and judgment entered against them in favour of Richard Gremmo (the opponent) following a trial in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned allegations of negligence on the part of the claimants' security guards.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the security guards acted negligently and whether the claimants had taken appropriate measures to meet their duty of care, specifically in relation to the provision of drinking glasses.

The Court of Appeal found that there was no basis for the trial judge's finding of negligence against the security guards. Their Honours reasoned that the measures taken by the claimants were appropriate in the circumstances, and that requiring the use of plastic glasses would have imposed an unreasonable standard of care. Consequently, the Court concluded that a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

The appeal was allowed, and the verdict and judgment of the trial judge were set aside. Verdict and judgment were entered for the claimants, who were also awarded their costs of the application for leave to appeal, the appeal itself, and the trial below, with the opponent to have a certificate under the Suitors' Fund Act 1951 (NSW) in relation to those costs, if entitled.