Mr. Luke hired a car from a car-hire-company and Ms. Richardson was an employee of that company. Mr. Luke returned the car and Ms. Richardson later requested that he return to the office. When he arrived, she pointed out that the tyres had been replaced with older tyres and that he was responsible for it. ⁣

Mr. Luke became angry. For context, he said that his anger was due to his military background and his cultural heritage from Africa. He reacted to Ms. Richardson by speaking loudly and aggressively and accused her of being a racist. In response, Ms. Richardson also became angry and called him a "thief" and a "criminal". Sometime during this event, Mr. Luke threatened to kill her and burn her. ⁣ ⁣

The judge found on the evidence that the tyres were in fact swapped. However, there was no evidence that the tyres were swapped by Mr. Luke himself as other people had driven the car. While Mr. Luke was probably liable for breach of contract, this did not suggest that he stole the tyres or that he was a criminal. The court held that Ms. Richardson’s accusations that he was a "thief" and a "criminal" were defamatory. ⁣ ⁣

Mr. Luke would have been awarded $7,500, however, the judge disapproved of Mr. Luke's accusation that Ms. Richardson was racist. He accused her both during the event itself and during the court hearing. The court held there was no evidence of racism on Ms. Richardson’s behalf. Further, the judge disapproved of the fact that Mr. Luke had threatened to kill and burn Ms. Richardson. Mr. Luke was in the end awarded $1,000 in compensation.

Further Reading

• Case Name: Luke v Richardson [2014] WADC 27

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