Kilpatrick v Van Staveren

[2002] QDC 293

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Kilpatrick v Van Staveren [2002] QDC 293

PARTIES:

Andrew Kilpatrick (Plaintiff) and

Dudley Van Staveren (First Defendant) and

Chubb Security Australia Pty Ltd (Second Defendant)

FILE NO/S:

D32 of 2000

DIVISION:

District Court, Mount Isa

PROCEEDING:

ORIGINATING COURT:

DELIVERED ON:

7 November 2002

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

23-24 September 2002

JUDGE:

Skoien SJDC

ORDER:

Judgment for plaintiff

CATCHWORDS:

Defamation; publication; qualified protection

COUNSEL:

M. Eliadis for plaintiff

APJ Collins for defendants

SOLICITORS:

Anderson Telford for plaintiff

McCabe Terrill for defendants

1. The plaintiff’s claim is for damages for defamation.

Facts

1. The plaintiff, who was born on 13 November 1959, is a leading hand carpenter employed by J & E Schmider Pty Ltd which trades, in Mount Isa and elsewhere, under the business name of Schmider Engineering Group (“SEG”).  He has always lived and worked in Mount Isa and has been with SEG since October 1995.  He is an honest man who is held in high regard by the executive officers of SEG.  His wife is employed as a cook by Mt Isa Mines Ltd. (“MIM”)

1. In July and August 2000 SEG were engaged in carrying out engineering work at MIM’s George Fisher Mine lease.  SEG had at the construction site (called K74) a shipping container which was used as their office cum tool shed.  The container had one usable door to it which was able to be locked. The plaintiff (who was the leading hand on the job) had a key to that lock, as did his supervisor, Mr Jackson, and at least one, possibly two other SEG employees.  The container was securely locked at the end of each shift as it contained many (perhaps 500 or more) valuable tools and construction items.  These items were habitually stored in an orderly manner.

1. To get to K74 one had to go through a security gate at the entrance to the George Fisher Mine lease, some five kilometres from K74.  The security gate was operated by the second defendant (“Chubb”) which was retained by MIM as its security consultants.  The first defendant (Mr Van Staveren) was Chubb’s manager at the MIM mine.

1. In July and August 2000 MIM and Chubb had adopted a “get tough” policy designed to combat a serious and very costly pilfering problem at the mine.  It was widely publicised that searches of vehicles would routinely be made as they were being driven out of the mine lease and that any unauthorised person found to be in possession of MIM property risked criminal prosecution and being barred from the MIM lease.

1. SEG finished its work at K74 in early August 2000 and quit the site, leaving the container locked.  Early in the morning of 17 August, Jackson told the plaintiff to organise the removal of the container from K74.  This would entail having a truck and crane going to K74, loading the container onto the truck and driving off the mine lease through the security gate.  However, it could not leave the mine lease…