Thompson v Cross

[2014] NSWDC 8

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	Thompson v Cross [2014] NSWDC 8
Hearing dates:	12/03/2014
Decision date:	13 March 2014
Jurisdiction:	Civil
Before:	Elkaim SC DCJ
Decision:	Judgment for the plaintiff for $92,909.10
Catchwords:	Occupiers liability, negligence of grandmother
Legislation Cited:	Civil Liability Act 2002
Cases Cited:	Australian Safeway Stores Pty Ltd v Zaluzna (1987) 162 CLR 479 Hahn v Conley (1971) 126 CLR 276
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	Kobie Thompson (Plaintiff) Joan Cross (Defendant)
Representation:	R Harrington (Plaintiff) S Torrington (Defendant) Lee Sames Egan (Plaintiff) Moray & Agnew (Defendant)
File Number(s):	2012/185298
Publication restriction:	No

Judgment

1. The plaintiff is now 30 years of age. The defendant is her paternal grandmother. When the plaintiff was 20 months old she was at her grandmother's home in Kanwal, just north of Wyong. She put her arms in the air. In doing so she pulled the cord running from a power point to a kettle. The kettle tipped over. There was very hot water in the kettle. The water poured over the plaintiff's right side. She suffered burns over her right nipple, her abdomen her leg and her foot.

1. The plaintiff has sued her grandmother. She says her injuries were caused by her grandmother's negligence as occupier of the premises. The defendant has denied liability and has challenged the version of events said to have led up to the plaintiff's injury.

1. There is no dispute that the kettle fell over and the hot water poured over the plaintiff. The defendant however says she was not at fault, rather it was the plaintiff's mother who was to blame.

1. Despite the accident having occurred in 1985, the parties agreed that the action is governed by the Civil Liability Act 2002 (the CLA). This is because the action was started after the commencement of the Act. The plaintiff has claimed damages for non-economic loss, medical expenses, future economic loss and future care.

1. The plaintiff, naturally, has no memory of the incident. She does however have a general recollection of being burnt. She said that as a child she was aware of looking different. She was embarrassed at sleepovers. She said that during puberty the burns were not of much significance however it has been as an adult that she has had the most problems.

1. The plaintiff is a single mother with three children. She said that her inability to breastfeed her children, due to a deformed right nipple, caused her a great deal of upset. She felt that her capacity as a mother had been unfairly judged and she had been deprived of the ability to breastfeed her children.

1. The plaintiff said that she was now embarrassed by her scarring and concerned that her appearance would hamper her prospects of finding a new partner. She said that she was paranoid of skin cancer. She felt itchy around the scars when they had been exposed to the sun. There was otherwise no pain.

1. The plaintiff said that she would have suggested surgery as soon as…