Ransley, D.A. v Coles Myer Ltd

[1987] FCA 133

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t 2 D ) Hhere It appea r s t o the Mln ie t e r that

croods of a p a r t l c u l a r k i n d wiLL or may cause l n j u r y

t o persons us ing the goods or t o any o the r p r s n n s ,

he may, hy n a t i c e under hxe hand plJbl1shed m the

Gaze t t e , declare t h e croods to be unsafe qoods.

12E1 A n o t i c e under sub- sec t lon (2D) has

e i f ec t unt11 the expiration of L8 months a f t e r the

d a t e of publication of t h ~ notlre i n the G a z e t t e

u n l e s s ~t is revoked be€ore t h e exuiratlon or-	that
period. "

- 3 -

Each b o t t l e c o n t a i n e d t.3hLet.s whJrh c o n t a i n 4

ulucomannan and t h l l : ; the content:: ol e d r h bmtt La ~compr~zed

alucomannan I n t a b l e t form. '1% t w o b o k t l e s w ~ r e amonF '1

uroup of s1x bot t les c o n t a l n l n q :ilm'LIar t a b l e t s . Each b o t t l e

was p r l c c d at $ 3 h e ? n q a d1scountx.d nrice havlnq been reduced

from a prlce of S 10.9 t , t o a p r i c e of- $7 and then to $ 3 .

I n the pr-sent. c a s e , p u r s u a n t o 0 . 4 9 r . 5 of t h r

R u l e s of Court. the proserutor and the defendant. have f i Led

d e t a l l e d a f f i d a v i t materla1 t o assist the Cour t t o detrrmine

t h e a p p r o p r i a t e p e n a l t y t o bp Imposed on C o l e s Myer Limlted.

Glucomannan 1s a type of s t a rch o r ca rbohydra t e hav lng a v e r y

larqe motecule whirh readi ly absorbs l lquids and Pxpands

q u l r k l y . When swaJ lowed. the glucomannm absorbs the 1iquxds

i n t h e stomach. expands and c r e a t e s 8 f ee lxnq of R f u l l

stomarh wi thou t hav in? ea tm tood . It. 1 s used a s an a i d to

"hp maln a t f l d a v l t , f z l e d by the defendant was sworn

by K e i t h I r v i n e . the s e c r e t a r y ot Colps Mger L i m i t m i . h Ma:J

1985. t h e deiendant, heLd about 3,000 b o t t l e s of ulucomannan

t a b l e t s e l t h e r In s t o c k or nn dlziplay shelves. A t that time

it opera ted some L,O55 stores i n Australia and some 200 of

those stocked qLucomannan t a b l e t s . Thp defendant d l d n o t

know of t h e d e c l a r a t i o n p u b l l s h e d m t.he G a z e t t ? of l3 May

1985 but it. must he presumed tm have k n o w l e d g e of it. The

l e T a l o f f i c e r whose d u t i e s m c l r ~ d e r v i e w i n g Government

Gaze t t e s , d2d not r e a l lse that. the d e i m d a n t S ~ l d qlllcomannan

i n L a b l e t r orm. If the dc=fend.mk had known ot' t h e

dec la ra t lon t he p rocedures presrr lhed i n t h e Product Recall

Manual. w o u l d have been 1m-plpmentpd. Jn alL p r o h , > b 1 l i t v V t h l z

would have prewntpr l the of ience occurr inq .

Ln JTnormre of the d e c l a r a t t n n , Eurton d t d n n t

a c t i v a t e thr? rt-ra L1 procedures htlt Instztul .c?d procedures for

the withdrawal t r n m sa L P ot- qLucomannan tcrhlets and t h e i r

ret,urn to the nupplxers. The memorandum m s t i t u t i n g t h o s e

procedures was dated L6 May 1985 a n d was d ~ r e r t ~ d t.o a L 1

S t a t e s . 'Che i n s t r r ~ c t i o n w a s headed "Glncomannan T a b l e t s " and

conta ined the f o l l n w m g instruct i .ons:-

"Whllst some states ' Hpalth Dppartment are

d i s a g r e e m g w i t h the Federal. Body, we a r e t o r p t u r n

a l l s tocks . a l l brands. of t .hese weight control

Items t n the varlorls suppliers.

This app1ie.s t o t a b l e t s only and is due t o the fac t .

t h a t b e c a u s ~ t,hey absorb m 0 1 s t u r e so nulck Ly t h a t

t h e r e 1 z a chance tha t t hey may s t i c k I n t h e t h r o a t

or somehody.

'Chls r ~ s k f a c t o r does n o t appJ7 t o capsules or

powders and t h e s e are net. t o be r e t u r n e d .

- 7 -

Ranme t n he Rpttlrned

Golden L 1 f c Groat Shape ' h h l p t s

Golden L 1 t c (;Lucomannsn S p ~ r u l l n a and Tlh

Natures Way ~:Iucomannan 500

Should :?our s t a t e be s t o c k ~ n a =.ny o t h a r GL~~rcimannan

T a b l e t s t h e z c	a	r	~	t n be	i n c l u d e d	I n	the	l n s t r u c t l n n
t o s t o r e s .

PlearjF! l n z t r u c t stores to t-Pmo-w t h e ahnve -ctpms

irom ':ale and in t,h- c a : z r or M-trnpnl i tan a reas

return l:n pour G.D.C. b v t h e 7 t h Junp o t h e r w ~ s e

c lams may not be a1 towed.

Mith regard t o cnunt.ry stores please oht.nIn t h e

q u a n t i t y of s t o c k nn hand so that, we can negotiate

w l t h t h e s u p p l i e r on t h e method or r e t u r n i n g .

Pleasv ? o n t a c t y o u r l o c a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f o r the

GoLden L i t c f N a t u r c s Way (Nlrholas) items and they

w l l l a r r a n q e t o pick up from your G.U.C. when

s tocks are ava i l ab le and WE sugqes t no l a t e r t han

28th June. 'I

h Tasmania. thls i n s t r u c t i o n was d l r e c t e d t o Dean

Kane. then t he de fendan t ' s buye r of g roce ry and on food

p r o d u c t s i n the Taamanian supermarket divls3 on.

In MA-J ancl ,June l9H5, Mark Andarson was thc

Department ManaTer o f the t o ] lF?1.?-Ies/cosmet1 c department at

t h p d e t p n d a n t , ' ~ K Mart store I n the I?hs t lands Shoppng Ccnt re

at Romy Park. 'I'hhnt department: soLd vitnmln t a b l e t s . I n

June L985. Anderson was i n s t r u c t c d by Craham Mazey, the then

Area Manauer a t that store, t o remove glucomannan t a b l e t s

from t h e d l s p t a y s h e l v e s u n t l l turther notlce. Anderson was

shown a w r l t t e n instruction t o do that. He and Susan Cooper,

a sales assistant in that departmcnt. scarchpd the dlsplay

s h e l v e s and tound s1x b o t t l e s of GoLdcn L l f e glucomannan

- 8 -

On the PvldmrF! bpfore Lhe Cour t . the p rocedures

adopted at the East , lands K Mart s t o r e w l t h r e spec t , to t,her;e

slx b o t t Les creaked a damnernus : ; ~ L u a t ' ~ o n . 'I 'h~s arose 1 rom a

l a c k ot knowledme o i the ev tdencr of t.he declar.3t on and Lhp

non 1mplementatim of the procedures sprrlf~ed i n t h e Product

R e m 1 L Manual. F u r t h e r , t h e r e wa:; a t a l Lure on t h e p a r t of

the apprnpr3.ate n t t i c e r r of t,he d e i e n d a n t to t a k e ;~dequat,e

precau t ions t n prpvmt, t hose bott les from helng ret-urned to

the d1sp lay .She Lves.

Thrre then developed a t o m h l s t o r y of a t l d y z n g up

n a t u r e I n which of f tcer r of the T rade L'ractlres Commlssl.on

found gluromennan t a b l e t s f i r s t a t some Coles Myer Llmlted

stores I n Tasmania, second at a 4:olrs Mypr 1,Imltxvi s t o r e a t

Newtown and t h i r d l v a t a Colea Myer L t m i t m l st.or? a t

Melvi l Le, Western A11strali.a~ Un aach oc~-r1sion. on he inq

notifi erl , seni o r manarremcnt, took u r f f en t and comprehenni ve

a c t i o n t o p n s t l r e t h a t f u r t h e r sa la:; did not. occur .

- l ! l -

- II -

Befwaen Aunust L Y H 5 ancl E'pbruary L 9 H 7 . l+tpr W1 t d r

was t h e Manaqer a t the K Mart s t o r e a t E a s t lands. Betore 221

May 1931?b. he did no t know tha t there wcr? any qlrlcomannan

tablets at; that s t o r e . In November 1985, he issued

i n s t r u c t i o n s that, 711 t,amins which were near1nF the i r exp i ry

d a t e should be marked clown p r o g w s s l v e l y a n d sold. The s l x

bottLe.5 nt ~ l r r n m a n n a n appear t o have ;In PXFI ry clate nt A p r l I

198b. In Bnr1.I h e decided 1.0 c l o s e down the vitamin s ~ ? c i , ~ r r n

e r l t l r p t y and t o se1 L all stock:; 01 v~t . ;~rnlns . HP doe5 not

know how t h e !?ix b o t t t p s ot alucomnnnc~n tah!et:: m m e to he

removed trom the stock room t o t h e d x s p l < + y shelves. He m,ide

enaulries ot the emptoypes who wcrp ~ n v o l v c r l i n t h e A p r ~ l

clparanre of vI tamln5 htlt none of t.hem remembers p l a r m q an'?

of thosp s1x hot tLes on t h e d l s p l a v s h r LvP~;. After kans tav

purchased the two hnt . t Les, hr nave onp to NI l r le W1 Ldc. t h q n

searched thr d ~ s p l a y s h e l v e s and removed t,he o t h p r four. I l l 1

l n s t r u c t l o n s from h i s	srlperlor	o f t i c e r ,	he	des t roved thp	t xve
b o t t les.

- L / -

No exp lana t lon has been y iven as t o how the

o f f e n d l n g b o t t l e s came t o bc on t h e d i s p l a y s h e l v e s i n May

1986. I n t h e circumstances it would be id l e t n s p e c u l a t e

what happened. r am s a t 2 s f l e d t h a t i n a l l p r o h a b l l i t y , i t

was done by an employee mployed on the shop floor at the K

Mart s t o r e .

due dl l ic renre t,o enmare t h a t a 1 1 the d e c l a r e d aoods were

removed from p o s s l h l e 5aie Crom a11 ot i t , s s t o r e s . When 1ts

a t t e n t l o n was drawn t o t h e fact It had n o t succeedrd, it

i n l t x a t e d e x t m s 1 - m and detailpd prnrrdure?s to prevent i u t u r p

br fachcs ot s.62 of t.hc Trade P r a r t l res Art. The f a c t t h a t

it f a l l e d r e s u l t e d . m my o p i n m n , from a f a l l u r e of

personnt.1 at. the store l e v e l .

- L ! -

'L'hr maulmum pena1t-J prr.:irrLhr4 hp S . :L, (it thr 'h-ad-y

Frac t t rms A r i , : 1 di.:;lTned t n r o v r r t he whole ran?? 01-

o r f e n r r s c r e a t e d by brraches 01. the p r o v l s l o n s nf P a r t V ot

thr Act. Many of t h o s e o f f e n c e s may resu l t from t h e moral

t u r p i t u d e and i i l shnnes ty of t h e o f t e n d m g p e r s o n where that

person has engaqcd m conduct f o r hls own b e n e f l t a t t h e

expense of Innocent pcrsnns. Nothlng Ltke t h a t has o c c u r r d here. In attempt,lnq tr, prevent, Lhe sale of t h e gttlcornannan tab le t ,c . the defendant tal led t o e x e r c i s e d11e d l l i g r n c ~ and

so could noi. r r l y upnn il detencr based on 7. HS of the Act.

NcvcrthelFs,Z. i n many recp+-rt,s it wa.5 m the pozl t,ion ot a n

Innocent per-son, Wen t h e d c l o r a t , i o n order was made,

w ~ t h n u t Itnowlrdcre of t,hat: order. t h p d e t e n d d n t npended t,lrnP

and resourrez t,o rcmove the t a h l e t s . 'Thai was r7 mammoth

task. T t . did n o t surceed complete Lv. 'Thereat t e r , ~t

expended fu r the r t lmo and rosourcps t o rert7t:J the position.

Lt falled because of human error a t a ?unl.or	level	of
r e s p o n s l b l l l t y .

Counsel f o r t h e defendant submitted t h a t the Court

should exercise ~ t s d l s c r e t l o n under s.19B of t h e Crimps Act

1 9 1 4 . a n d r r f r a l n from enterlng a c o n v l c t l o n agamst the

dcfendant havmo reqord t o t h e ex ten t t o which the o€tence IS

of a trivial n a t u r e o r t o thr extent. to whlch the ot icnce was

commtttcd u n d e r ~ x t a n u a L 1 n ~ c1 rcumst,ancec. [n my op in ion ,

ne1t:her o f t hose m;\tters a p p l y he re . ' 1 % ~ o t fence 1 S no t

t r i v l a I and t h e f nctr ; of t h i s p r o n e r u t ~ o n do not constitute

e x t a n u a t m g circumstances.

.

- 14 -

I c e r t l f y t h a t t h l s a n d t h e t h l r t e e n (13)

p r e c e d i n g p a g e s a r e a t r u e c o p y o f t h e

Reasons for Judgment here in of t h e

Honourable Mr. J u s t i c e R . M . Nor throp .

h

2 7 M a r c h &