Matthew Leonard was awarded $12 million in damages after an altercation with a bouncer outside a Hobart nightclub left him with a life-altering injury. Image: Valentine Angel Fernandez, via Pexels
Matthew Leonard, 37, was awarded $12 million in damages after an altercation with a crowd controller outside a Hobart club in 2014 left him with significant mental and physical impairment.
Leonard was 28 at the time of the incident, which occurred outside the now-closed Syrup nightclub in Salamanca Place.
The proceedings were instigated by Public Trustee on Leonard’s behalf, against the defendants, bouncer Faleupolu Atileo and his employer, SL Security Pty Ltd.
Acting Justice David Porter said in his judgement that Leonard was heavily intoxicated on the night of the incident and was ushered away from the club.
However, Leonard returned to the area and reportedly punched Atileo, who punched him back, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the road, leading to an emergency craniotomy and nine months in inpatient care.
Atileo argued that he had only pushed Leonard, however, upon reviewing CCTV and witness evidence, Acting Justice Porter concluded that Atileo had punched the man.
Although he did not instigate the conflict, the judge ruled that Atileo had not acted in self-defence when he punched Leonard.
“He could indeed have grabbed him, rather than punched him, or simply backed away fending him off if necessary. The defence of self-defence fails,” said Acting Justice Porter.
He also pointed out that Leonard was drunk at the time of the incident, with a blood alcohol level of 0.35 upon his admission to the hospital, whilst Atileo was sober.
However, he concluded that Leonard bore about 20 per cent of total responsibility for his injury, due to his “unruly, uncooperative and antagonistic” behaviour leading to the incident, which resulted in a reduction in the damages awarded.
The huge sum of $12,490,640 was awarded primarily to cover the expenses of Leonard’s ongoing medical care and support.
Acting Justice Porter said that Leonard now required “24-hour care … a diverse range of medication, machine-assisted breathing at night and behavioural regulation and support”.
Leonard now struggles to remember his life before the injury and has no recollection of the incident.
