There have been numerous court cases during the week that I would normally report on but all of them have had very little action. They involve people such as Kathy Jackson, Craig Thomson and Kerry Stokes etc. In many of these cases there are clear and blatant delaying tactics. So we’ll have a look at a few of the cases and look at the reasons behind the delays. It could help you out one day if you end up in court.
There are many reasons why people try delaying tactics. Avoiding jail, avoiding paying the other party what they are owed such as tax to the government, rich people trying to wear the other party down by adding to their costs and corruption of some sort dragging out the proceedings such as in the Craig Thomson matters.
There are also many excuses for delaying tactics with the number one probably being the mental health issue excuse and then there is the lawyer/barrister claiming they are fully booked for a long period and I need time to find a new lawyer as I sacked my previous one etc.
Kathy Jackson
The Health Services Union (HSU) were back in court this week chasing union corruption whistleblower Kathy Jackson for $1.4 million of union members funds they claim she misused.
Mrs Jackson did not attend court and had her lawyer ask for an adjournment until February next year as she is suffering mental illness and is in hospital. The barrister for the HSU, Mark Irving, was very critical of this and said:
“Mr Irving said Ms Jackson had a history of not complying with the court.”
“Things get worse for people who are being sued for significant amounts of money,” he said. (Click here to read more)
The mental illness excuse is very common and an obvious put on in most cases but Kathy Jackson should be given the benefit of doubt as she has previous history of mental health issues when she did not have any court proceedings against her. The previous issue in 2011 which also resulted in Mrs Jackson spending time in hospital peaked when Mrs Jackson “had tried to kill herself”. (Click here to read more)
The mental health issue is not just commonly used for delaying tactics but many also use it as a total defence for crime, corruption and misconduct. Two examples being Magistrate Jennifer Betts and Magistrate Brian Maloney when they were alleged to have abused their positions in 2011. (Click here to read more)
Craig Thomson
Former Federal MP and convicted criminal Craig Thomson has been on the run for a long time and is still to be held to account for his crimes. Although judgment day is getting very close. The Australian public have known since April 2009 that he ripped off the Health Services Union (HSU) because all the documented evidence was splashed across the papers. The Australian reported this week:
“ALLEGATIONS that Craig Thomson spent more than $100,000 on restaurants, hotels, flights and accommodation un-related to his work as a union secretary have been dumped by the Fair Work Commission as it tightens its case against the former Labor MP.”
“Thomson, who is appealing against a criminal conviction and three-month prison sentence for fraud offences, will face a civil trial in March on similar claims of misusing Health Services Union money for personal benefit.”
“The FWC is now seeking about $243,000 in compensation, excluding interest, plus penalties for 48 alleged breaches of federal law and 15 breaches of HSU rules.” (Click here to read more)
The delaying tactics that have benefited Craig Thomson most are well-known and involved Labor Party appointed executives at the Fair Work Commission deliberately dragging out an investigation and also court matters. One of the key people who has aided and abetted this is FWC General Manager Bernadette O’Neill who is a former Assistant National Secretary of the United Voice Union. Having one ex union official investigate another ex union official should be a crime in itself and banned immediately.
Kerry Stokes
I was back in court on Wednesday with the legal team for Billionaire and Channel 7 Chairman Kerry Stokes who is Australia’s best known frivolous and vexatious litigant. As you know Mr Stokes is suing me for defamation. Given he claims to have been defamed one would expect he would want his day in court. As it turns out Mr Stokes is now doing everything he can to not have a hearing. His latest attempt is filing a frivolous notice of motion to have my defence summarily dismissed.
Mr Stokes had 2 months to file the notice of motion but only filed in on Tuesday, the day before the directions hearing. If he really believed he had grounds to have my defence summarily dismissed he would have filed it 2 months ago. I won’t bore you with too many more details as we are back in court in a couple of weeks. But Kerry Stokes is now running from having a hearing as he knows he has no case and will be made to look like the fool he is. So Stokes has his dodgy barrister Sandy Dawson lie and deceive the court from the bar table abusing the legal system.
He sues anyone and everyone whether he has a case or not. The most famous case the nutter (Stokes) instituted was the C7 matter that became known as Kerry Stokes versus The World where he sued over 20 companies and lost. Mr Stokes ended up having to pay over $200 million in legal fees. (Click here to read more)
The thing with Stokes is court is just a battle ground he uses because he thinks he has the upper hand with his wealth and he uses all the corrupt and dodgy tactics he can. Now he is using the delaying tactics hoping for a another corrupt judgment to go his way. Stokes’s best days are way behind him and he should have retired long ago.
Asking for a delay is something to give plenty of thought if you are involved in a court case. The first question to ask yourself is if a delay would help you and if it would then you need to think of what to tell the judge to justify the delay. You should also be ready for the other party to try delaying tactics and what your response will be.
Obviously I could write a lot more on delaying tactics in court but you can never cover every situation as someone will always come along with a new routine to abuse the system.
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Categories: Channel 7, Kerry Stokes
Blatant delaying tactics. Exactly Great post
Regards, Linda Bennett
Hi Shane——-Mr Stokes is a mercantilist and thus will suffer his dignity impugned.
What then happens with this character; ——- 2 things—
* He will run out of money——-his son will see to this.
* He will become less vexatious————-see point one. Regards.
Speaking of people coming up with great excuses I see the dirtbag son of the unions lawyer at the RC who’s wife also happens to be a lawyer, got off with a suspended sentence for an armed holdup at a jewellery store on the Gold Coast because apparently having two wealthy lawyer parents that provided you everything you could ever ask for is a traumatic childhood when you have the right judge sitting on the case.
And on the subject of Kathy Jackson, Bolt and the Australian are running another attack piece on her today but still not a word about his little friend Kitching and her dirty dealings. Wonder who has such a vested interest at News Corp to keep Jackson in the spotlight and to protect all the rest?
I think the armed holdup was actually in Mosman in Sydney.
@ Climate Realist…I gave up on Bolt when he showed his true colors re: Kimmy Kitchen. I refuse to watch or read him anymore so I am not surprised by your comment today.
Your post only verifies the average Australians image of one law for us and a different law for politicians, all the aforementioned cases are all a foregone conclusion these people will walk away with a smack on the hand at the most and the Australian public will have further evidence of the union and political party corruption is rife in our very shaky legal system. There is one good result and that is the fact that it will reinforce the Australians attitude that they should stay away from unions who have proved that their past subscriptions are as safe as the fiscal economy in the hands of treasurers like Wayne Swann and the like, the funds of the union represent an ATM for union officials to pilfer and squander at will. Suggesting that the delaying tactics would be useful for the general public is a little optimistic, if you or I tried it they would reject any delay out of hand. We have to live with fact that we started out as a penal colony and the system leaves no doubt that it is still thriving as such. Establishments like “Kangaroo court” will help to bring justice and truth to the lucky country but we have a long way to go. Allan from Myalup WA.