All the efforts of Rondebosch paraplegic Andrew Merryweather have come to nought, after the court set aside a damages award of more than R10 million.
|||Cape Town - All the efforts of Rondebosch paraplegic Andrew Merryweather have come to nought, after the Western Cape High Court set aside a damages award of more than R10 million.
The judgment, by a full Bench, set aside court orders that former Reddam House pupil Oliver Scholtz – one of the men involved in the widely publicised brawl which left Merryweather paralysed – pay him the money in damages.
Merryweather viewed the damages award as a cash injection to pay for specialised aids he hoped would help him walk again.
His celebration was shortlived however, when Scholtz came forward after several years of silence with a rescission application. And he has now been given the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations.
Depending on the outcome, Merryweather could be awarded substantially less, or nothing at all.
The saga dates back to 2006 when Merryweather was paralysed in the brawl at a Newlands petrol station.
While none of those involved was held criminally liable, the High Court ordered Scholtz, in a civil action in 2013, to pay Merryweather R10m in damages.
Both the damages award and the liability finding were made by default after Scholtz failed to defend the action.
But Scholtz later came forward, claiming his failure to defend the action was motivated by advice he had received that he need not be concerned because the service of the summons had been irregular.
In a judgment by the full Bench, handed down earlier this month, Judge Vincent Saldanha said there was no basis to discount Scholtz’s claim he had ignored the action because of bad advice received.
He said Scholtz’s claim to exercise his constitutional right to access the court should not have been summarily dismissed.
Weekend Argus
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.