Christensen v MacDonald & Ors [1993] QSC 53

;;10'-'~,....i : ,. ..,;;; c 9 3/o::S?:, : /• .... : '?fi( State Reporting Bureau TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS (Copyright in this transcript is vested in the Crown. Copies thereof must not be made or sold \"\ithout the written authority of the Director, State Reporting Bureau.) SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND CIVIL JURISDICTION SHEPHERDSON J No 4051 of 1989 CHARMAINE JOY CHRISTENSEN by her next friend BETTY HOWELLS and ALEXANDER ANGUS MACDONALD and SIDNEY L WITTAKER and SUNCORP INSURANCE & FINANCE BRISBANE .. DATE 02/02/93 ORDER 1 REVISED CCP:E: ISSUED Stata Reprt!n~ Bureau Date j I 3 I a_5 Plaintiff First Defendant Second Defendant Defendant by Election 4t11 Floor. Tl1e taw Courts, Geor£e Street, Brisbane, Q. 4000 Telephone: (07) 227 4360. Facsimile: (07) 227 5532 -- 1 of 3 -- HIS HONOUR: This action has come before me for settlement of a sanction entered into between the legal representatives for the plaintiff and the defendant by election. The plaintiff was born on 8 August 1970. On 17 October 1975 while crossing Cameron Parade, Wynnum or attempting to cross Cameron Parade, Wynnum in the hours of darkness she was struck by a taxi sedan driven by the first defendant Alexander Angus MacDonald for whom the defendant by election Suncorp Insurance and Finance has elected to act. The plaintiff suffered serious injury as a result of this accident. The action was commenced on 11 December 1989 and the matter has been compromised, the plaintiff's next friend, Betty Howells, on legal advice, accepting $250,000 plus costs of the action to be taxed. I do not propose to go through all the material that has been placed before me this morning. The one matter that had caused me concern was the question of liability in the plaintiff. As 10 20 30 4b will have been seen she was a c~ild, barely 5 years old, when injured. The joint opinion from plaintiff's counsel, Mr Williams QC and Mr King-Scott, has satisfied me that although the amount accepted is well below the amount which the plaintiff might reasonably have expected to receive, had the issue of liability been resolved entirely in the plaintiff's favour both plaintiff's counsel are of the opinion that there is a real risk that the plaintiff could lose on the issue of liability. 2 50 60 -- 2 of 3 -- I respect their opinion. They have had the advantage of me in that they have conferred with the plaintiff and another independent witness and they are best able to assess the situation. I put these remarks on the record in case they are needed for future reference. I sanction the settlement of the action in the amounts I have already indicated. An order has been placed before me. I 10 20 have made some amendments to it and I make an order as per the altered draft. I further order, and this does not appear in the draft order, that Exhibits 5 and 6 before me be placed in a sealed envelope 30 with the file in this action and that envelope be not opened without the order of a judge of this Court. 40 50 60 3 -- 3 of 3 --