Kennewell v Carne [2001] ACTSC 129 (24 December 2001)

Last Updated: 11 June 2002

MARK ALLAN KENNEWELL v JASON MORGAN CARNE

[2001] ACTSC 129 (24 December 2001)

CATCHWORDS

DAMAGES - personal injury - motor vehicle accident - whiplash - ongoing effect on plaintiff's earning capacity - no point of principle.

No. SC 15 of 2000

Coram: Whitlam J

Supreme Court of the ACT

Date: 24 December 2001

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE )

) No. SC 15 of 2000

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY )

BETWEEN: MARK ALLAN KENNEWELL

Plaintiff

AND: JASON MORGAN CARNE

Defendant

ORDER

Judge Making Order: Whitlam J

Where Made: Sydney

Date of Order: 24 December 2001

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. Judgment be entered for the plaintiff in the sum of $99,831.43.

2. The defendant pay the plaintiff's costs.

1. This is a motor accident case. Liability has been admitted, and the only matter to be determined is the amount of damages. The accident in question occurred on 20 February 1999. Although the plaintiff is a comparatively young man who is still only in his thirties, he claims to have suffered a very significant loss of earning capacity as a result of the accident. It is desirable, therefore, to begin by tracing his early life in some detail.

2. The plaintiff was born on 23 September 1964. He told a clinical psychologist, to whom he was referred by his solicitor, that he was the fourth of five siblings in a family, who "used to move all the time" because the father was in the air force until they came to settle in Canberra in his last year of primary school. The plaintiff attended Melba High School which he left when he was 15 years of age. He then did a four year apprenticeship at a service station in Hall whilst attending courses at the TAFE Institute in Reid. In 1984 the plaintiff got his trade certificate as a motor mechanic and married his wife Yvonne