Wilden v Jennings (no 1) [2021] NSWDC 705 (on Caselaw).
These proceedings arose out of a personal relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant during the period of approximately 2010 and 2016. The couple lived together in that period and married in 2015.
During the period of cohabitation Mr Jennings, it was alleged, would verbally abuse Ms Wilden. A claim in that regard was abandoned during final submissions. The reason for the abandonment was not because the alleged verbal abuse did not occur but, rather, that as a matter of policy, the law may not recognise such abuse as giving rise to an entitlement to damages.
Further, in the period October 2014 through May 2016, it was alleged that Mr Jennings engaged in forced sexual intercourse with Ms Wilden without her consent.
The trial judge noted that s 5 of the Married Persons (Equality of Status) Act 1996 (NSW) provides that spouses (including husband and wife) each have a right of action in tort against the other as if they were not married.
Given the nature of the allegations, the trial judge recognised the need to apply Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34.
Having found in favour of the plaintiff and rejected the defendant’s defence under the Limitation Act, the Court assessed damages including general damages ($200,000), aggravated damages ($50,000) and exemplary damages ($75,000).
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