King v Sexton & Green & Anor

The appeal concerned a motor accident involving a single vehicle. The appellant, Mr King, sought to appeal a finding made by the trial judge against the weight of the evidence. The respondents were Sexton & Green.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the evidence presented did not support the appellant's version of events regarding the accident. Specifically, the court had to determine if the observations made by Senior Constable Newell at the accident scene, particularly concerning the tyre marks and the vehicle's trajectory, were correctly interpreted by the trial judge.

The court's reasoning focused on the evidence of Senior Constable Newell, who attended the scene shortly after the accident. He observed tyre marks on the western shoulder of the road and across the bitumen, which he described as unusual and at a sharp angle. He believed these marks indicated the vehicle veered sharply to the right. The trial judge, however, appears to have interpreted these marks differently, leading to a finding against the appellant. The appeal was allowed, indicating the appellate court found the trial judge's assessment of the evidence to be against its weight.