Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 30 January 2016.
James attended a local night club and following an altercation at 1.30am, he is assaulted by two men, Bill and Bob.
James lost consciousness and sustained amnesia, significant dental injuries and psychological issues.
James was heavily intoxicated at the time and had no recollection of the incident. He was, however, able to rely on CCTV footage.
The court found that Bill and Bob’s actions “were intentional acts to cause injury” and that the acts were not done in self-defence.
The court also found that James was not guilty of any conduct which provoked the incident and further observed that the CCTV footage showed that the assailants appeared to congratulate themselves after the assault.
The court ordered that James was to be awarded $20,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, $10,000 for loss of past wages and $55,000 for general damages (pain and suffering), which included a component for mental suffering and “hurt feelings”.
In addition, James sought an award for “aggravated and/or exemplary damages”.
Aggravated damages are an additional award for injury to a plaintiff’s feelings and humiliation in cases of serious misconduct by a defendant.
Exemplary damages are above what is necessary to compensate a plaintiff and are awarded to punish a defendant and demonstrate the court’s disapproval of such conduct.
The court ultimately ordered an additional award of $10,000 for aggravated damages and despite a finding that Bill and Bob were heavily intoxicated and in circumstances where they had later demonstrated remorse, ordered an additional $20,000 as exemplary damages.
Following the assault, James moved overseas and obtained work, outside his pre-assault vocation as a miner. In these circumstances, the court found that there was insufficient evidence to support a further award as a “cushion in respect of future economic loss”.
This case demonstrates the significant financial impact that can be imposed on an assailant in addition to, or in the absence of criminal charges.
