Crowell v Commissioner for Railways [1993] QSC 272

;\ I I () CJ se o;~ ):27d-.. State Reporting Bureau TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS (Copyright in this transcript is vested in the Crown. Copies thereof must not be made or sold without the written authority of the Director, State Reporting Bureau.) SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND CIVIL JURISDICTION KIEFEL J No 2921 of 1987 JOSEPH MICHAEL CROWELL and THE COMMISSIONER FOR RAILWAYS BRISBANE .. DATE 25/08/93 JUDGMENT 1 REVISED COP!!:"S jSS'i7Eu Slate Reporting 8t.:reau Date /Cf1 .:; 1 3 Plaintiff Defendant -- 1 of 3 -- 250893 se (Kiefel J) HER HONOUR: In this action the parties have very sensibly reached settlement as to both liability and quantum. The plaintiff was injured in a railway accident on 1 August 1984, from the evidence I have already heard. His injuries, it could be said, were very extensive and it is only by reason of his recent death that a further award for the component of pain and suffering and interest on that amount can no longer be pursued. That would likely have had the effect of 10 increasing the sums that have otherwise been agreed by the r~ 20(.) parties and have left for his intestate estate a larger sum. I "'/ mention this as matter which might be taken into consideration by those concerned with the repayment of Government funds towards the plaintiff's nursing care during his life time. 30 The parties have asked me to record their consent to the breakdown of a total award which underlies their settlement. The total figure for damages which the parties have agreed, rounded off to the nearest figure is the sum of $250,000, 4o() subject to a question of contributory negligence which I shall note later. That total figure for damages is made up of the following: Commonwealth Health Department contribution to nursing care, $136,331 .93; w Amount made by the plaintiff for nursing care - which I am told was applied by him towards the cost of the nursing home where he resided- in the sum of $54,107.65; Loss of economy, including an allowance for interest to date from 1 August 1984 up to the plaintiff's 65th birthday on 1 May 1990 in the sum of $59,560. JUDGMENT 2 60 -- 2 of 3 -- -------------~----------- · ·" "250893 se (Kiefel J) ( 1 I / ) ( l) The parties have agreed that liability be settled on the basis that the plaintiff be held liable for contributory negligence in the figure of 20 per cent. The orders by consent which are therefore necessary are that there be judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $200,000; order that the defendant pay the plaintiff's costs of and incidental to the action, including reserved costs, if any, but excluding the costs of the application for the appointment of an adrninistratix ad litem to be taxed; further order that the administratrix ad litem, Kathleen Gladys Burke, be authorised to execute a receipt and discharge to the defendant upon receipt of the judgment sum. JUDGMENT 3 10 20 30 40 50 60 -- 3 of 3 --