Nguyen v Hiotis

[2002] SASC 244

NGUYEN  V  HIOTIS

[2002] SASC 244

CIVIL

BLEBY J          

Background

1. The plaintiff was born in Vietnam on 28 January 1975.  In 1980 he migrated to Australia with his parents.  On 7 October 1995 he was severely injured in a knife attack outside the Woodville Town Hall.  His attackers were also of Vietnamese origin.  They are not parties to this action.

2. The defendant was the proprietor of a security service hired to provide security services for the event which the plaintiff was attending at the Town Hall.  He has since been declared bankrupt, but the plaintiff has obtained leave from the Federal Court of Australia to proceed against him in this action.  The defendant did not enter an appearance, and on 24 July 2001 the plaintiff obtained interlocutory judgment against the defendant for damages to be assessed.

3. It falls to me to assess the plaintiff’s damages.  In doing so, I must act on the evidence before me, but I am conscious that, the defendant not having appeared and not having been represented at the hearing, the evidence led on behalf of the plaintiff is uncontradicted and has not been subjected to the same rigorous testing as might have been the case if the defendant had been represented.  However, that does not mean that I should ignore any of the evidence that has been led, and I do not do so.  Nevertheless, the plaintiff’s claims must be approached critically and with some care, given the magnitude and devastating effect of his injuries.

   Injuries and Disabilities

4. The plaintiff suffered multiple stab wounds, one of which entered his spinal canal at the T-8 level, rendering him paraplegic.

5. He was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and later transferred to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.  He had a leak of cerebral spinal fluid from the wound and was troubled by postural hypotension, both of which had resolved when he was transferred to the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre on 26 October 1995.  By the time of his discharge in February 1996, after intensive physiotherapy, physical education, occupational therapy and counselling,  he was independently mobile in a wheelchair in most daily living activities, but required assistance for showering and dressing his lower body.  He was capable of performing standing transfers, but walking was severely limited by spasticity, muscle spasms and diffuse and severe neuropathic pain.  His functional abilities had deteriorated.  Although his bladder function appeared to be normal, he was having increasing difficulties with bowel function which caused him emotional difficulties in relation to hospital staff.

6. He continued to attend the spinal unit as an outpatient and was readmitted for treatment of traumatic stress disorder for eight days in August 1996.

7. In August 1997 he was readmitted to the spinal injury unit for approximately six weeks for management of chronic constipation and assessment of urinary urgency, as well as treatment of his longstanding anxiety and depression.  He was treated with anti-depressant medication and behavioural therapy.  During that admission there was some moderate degree of improvement in his bladder function.…