Liebeck v Dawsal Pty Limited

LIEBECK v DAWSAL PTY LIMITED [2010] ACTSC 141 (12 November 2010)

NEGLIGENCE – Occupier’s Liability – Personal Injury – Tiled external surface – Plaintiff injured after fall on steps outside Kingston Hotel – Serious ongoing leg injury – Allegation that steps were wet and dangerously slippery – Plaintiff acutely intoxicated – Liability contested on basis that the steps were not wet and that the plaintiff did not slip – Whether negligence established – Court not satisfied that steps were wet – Court not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that plaintiff slipped – Negligence not established.

DAMAGES – Personal Injury – Slip and fall – Leg injury – No issue of principle

Australian Safeway Stores Proprietary Limited v Zaluzna (1987) 162 CLR 479
Freudenstein v Marhop Pty Ltd & Ors [2010] NSWSC 724
Hackshaw v Shaw (1984) 155 CLR 614

South Tweed Heads Rugby League Football Club Ltd v Cole and Another (2002) 55 NSWLR 113

No. SC 658 of 2003

Judge:  Cowdroy J
Supreme Court of the ACT
Date:   12 November 2010

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE     )
  )          No. SC 658 of 2003
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY           )

BETWEEN:TREVOR LIEBECK

Plaintiff

AND:             DAWSAL PTY LIMITED
  Defendant

ORDER

Judge:  Cowdroy J
Date:  12 November 2010
Place:  Sydney

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1.          Judgment be entered for the Defendant.

2.          The Plaintiff pay the Defendant’s costs.

THE CLAIM

1. The plaintiff claims damages from the defendant (‘Dawsal’) arising out of an injury sustained by the plaintiff on 14 April 2002. The injury is claimed to have been caused by the negligence of Dawsal. Dawsal denies liability and in the alternative alleges contributory negligence by the plaintiff relating to the cause of his injuries.

PLAINTIFF’S EVIDENCE

Plaintiff’s Evidence in Chief

1. The plaintiff was born on 24 December 1957 and is currently 52 years of age. At the time of the injury the plaintiff was a regular patron at a hotel known as the Kingston Hotel (‘the Hotel’) located at 73 Canberra Avenue, Griffith, in the Australian Capital Territory. Dawsal is the owner of the Hotel.

1. On Saturday 13 April 2002 the plaintiff was working as a labourer for a demolition company named Moltoni Adams Pty Ltd. On that day the plaintiff ceased work at approximately 5:00 pm and drove to his home at Chisholm. He changed from his work clothes and then drove to the Hotel, arriving at between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. He met four other fellow workers, including a colleague known as ‘Derek’ at the Hotel. After meeting his fellow workers, the plaintiff began to purchase and consume schooners of Carlton Draught with the others in his group. The plaintiff estimated that he consumed approximately 10 schooners of beer while they played pool. The plaintiff also stated that he did not consume a meal.

1. Towards the end of the evening three of his colleagues left the Hotel so that at approximately 2:00 am only the plaintiff and Derek remained. Derek and the plaintiff decided to continue their evening by…