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Re Chase

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Re Chase
CourtCourt of Appeal of New Zealand
Full case name Public Trustee as administrator of the estate of Paul Chase, deceased v The Attorney-General sued on behalf of the Police
Decided22 September 1988
Citation[1989] 1 NZLR 325
Court membership
Judges sittingCooke P, Somers J, Henry J

Re Chase [1989] 1 NZLR 325 is a cited case regarding civil claims being barred by ACC.[1]

Background

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Paul Chase was a patched member of the Petone Mongrel Mob, and he was with a fellow gang member who were accused of discharging a firearm inside a Lower Hutt tavern frequented by a rival gang.

As the result of Chase being implicated in a gang related shooting, the police arranged a dawn entry into his apartment by armed police on 18 April 1983.

Being startled, Chase thought a rival gang was trying to break into his house, and to defend himself, he approached the police with a weight bar, which the armed officers mistook for a gun barrel and shot him dead.[2][3]

Barred by ACC law in suing for damages, his estate sued for exemplary damages.

Held

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The court refused to award damages

References

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  1. ^ McLay, Geoff (2003). Butterworths Student Companion Torts (4th ed.). LexisNexis. ISBN 0-408-71686-X.
  2. ^ "Lower Hutt man, Paul Chase, shot by police". Ngā Taonga - Sound & Vision. 19 April 1983.
  3. ^ "Does a Policeman Have to Knock?" (PDF). New Zealand Legal Information Institute. 1984.