The Supreme Court’s Justice Sidis has found for Sharon Hopps in her action against the owners of the ICBM night club who could neither find the responsible security guard, nor turn up to court.

In this matter, the plaintiff claimed that in the early hours of 23 May 2009 she was assaulted by a security guard on licensed premises operated by the first and third defendants under the name ICBM in Northbourne Avenue, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.

The claim was brought against the first and third defendants as occupiers and operators of the premises and against the third defendant as the employer of the security guard. The proceedings were commenced on 20 July 2011 and duly served on the first and third defendants. The security guard was initially named as a party but the plaintiff was unable to locate him and he was not served. Proceedings against him were discontinued on 14 August 2012.

In the absence of appearance or the filing of any defence, default judgment was entered against the remaining defendants on 27 June 2012 for damages, costs and interest to be assessed. The parties were notified by the Registrar on 14 September 2012 that the matter was to be listed before the court today. The defendants were called at 11 am, the listing time, three times and there was no appearance on their part. In the absence of any communication with the court by the first or third defendants, I acceded to the plaintiff’s request to proceed with an assessment of her claim.