Marinkovic v McNaughton

[2016] QDC 136

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Marinkovic v McNaughton [2016] QDC 136

PARTIES:

JACK MARINKOVIC

(plaintiff)

v

JOHN McNAUGHTON

(first defendant)

And

AAI LIMITED

(second defendant)

FILE NO/S:

BD2239 of 2014

DIVISION:

PROCEEDING:

Civil Trial

ORIGINATING COURT:

District Court at Brisbane

DELIVERED ON:

3 June 2016

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

30 November, 1, 2 December 2015

JUDGE:

McGill SC DCJ

ORDER:

Judgment that the Second Defendant pay the Plaintiff $461,249.

CATCHWORDS:

DAMAGES – Personal injuries – assessment – ISV – effect of significant psychiatric condition secondary to physical injuries – assessment of economic loss.

Nilon v Bezzina [1988] 2 Qd R 420 - cited.

COUNSEL:

P J Goodwin for the plaintiff.

R D Green for the second defendant.

SOLICITORS:

Bartels Lawyers for the plaintiff.

Bray Lawyers for the second defendant.

1. On 30 April 2010 the plaintiff had stopped in a line of traffic after driving north along Mains Road, Sunnybank when his vehicle was struck from behind at some speed by one driven by the first defendant.  The plaintiff alleges that as a result of this he suffered personal injury.  Liability is not in issue, but there is a dispute as to quantum of damages.  The process of assessment is complicated by the fact that the plaintiff had also been involved in an accident in October 2008, in which he had also suffered injury.  In these circumstances, the assessment of damages depends essentially on the extent to which the plaintiff’s condition has been made worse as a result of the second collision: Nilon v Bezzina [1988] 2 Qd R 420. The plaintiff’s case was that by the time of the second accident he had largely recovered from the first, whereas the defendants submitted that the plaintiff’s current problems were really the result of the first accident, or pre-existing degeneration.

1. The plaintiff was born on 6 November 1956 and came to Australia in 1969: p 6.  He left school at about age 16 and did a range of jobs, including qualifying as a boilermaker welder in a car factory.  He also spent time driving trucks at a mine, and went overseas for three years, then worked for a time as a tiler’s labourer before obtaining a tiler’s license in 2004.[1]  He described various jobs associated with tiling work, some of which did sound quite physically demanding: pp 9, 10.  He worked as an independent tradesmen, doing both domestic and commercial jobs: p 10.  In about 2005 he built a house as an owner builder, doing some of the work himself and helping other tradesmen do their work: p 12.  The house was finally sold in 2009, at a reasonable profit. 

   [1]Ex 20, document 5-1, p 2; in evidence he claimed it was about 20 years ago: p 9.  In 2004 he said he had in fact been tiling for 10 years: document 5-1, p 8.  Ex 20 is a bundle of documents, but Ex 1 – 17 were specific documents or groups of documents within that bundle.  The plaintiff tendered Exhibits…