Judge awards $60,300 damages

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 5

Judge awards $60,300 damages

PA Wellington Rosemarie Jayne Duffy, aged 23, who said she was wrongfully arrested and detained, has been awarded $60,300 damages by Mr Justice Eichelbaum in the High Court. “The plaintiff is entitled to costs, but as there are, likely to be matters of detail requiring discussion, all questions regarding the uantum of costs are reserved,” he said in a judgment given yesterday. In May, a High Court jury in Wellington assessed damages of $60,000 for Miss Duffy, a cancer patient. Mr Justice Eichelbaum adjourned the case for further consideration, without then ruling on the defendant’s liability. Miss Duffy was arrested for drunkenness on The Terrace in Wellington on November 13, 1981. She was in detention for about 2% hours before being released. She claimed $150,000 damages for wrongful arrest and detention, or $lOO,OOO in two alternatives under a second cause of

action for unlawful detention. The defendant was the Attorney-General, sued on behalf of the Police Department. The jury assessed damages for wrongful arrest and detention at $60,000, with special damages of $3OO. General damages assessed on the assumption that unlawful detention started after Miss Duffy was put in a police van were $40,000. The jury assessed general damages on the assumption that unlawful detention started when a second person was put in the van at $30,000. The jury found Miss Duffy was not drunk at the time of her arrest. His Honour said at the end of his 24-page judgment that while much police work was demanding, unpleasant, and thankless, the public was entitled to expect a higher standard of the police than the indifference shown by three constables on this occasion.