* This article was first published in the Cape Argus newspaper on the 30th of June.
Cape Town - Paraplegic Andrew Merryweather, who was left paralysed after a brutal attack, has won his 15-year long fight for damages in the Western Cape High Court.
It all began with an incident at the Newlands Engen petrol station in the early hours of September 9, 2006, when Merryweather, now 39, was paralysed during a brawl.
That morning, a group of schoolboys, including Merryweather’s attacker, the defendant Oliver Scholtz then aged 18, got into a fight with three young men, including the then 24-year-old Merryweather, his brother and a friend, after a night out.
Both groups had been drinking at different venues and met at the petrol station where the fight between Merrywether and Scholtz was sparked by a verbal exchange in the car park.
The fight left Merryweather, with a fractured spine, partially paralysed and wheelchair-bound after he was pushed by Scholtz, and his head struck a stationary car.
All along Scholtz’s version of events has been that he pushed Merryweather in self-defence. However, Merryweather claimed that Scholtz intentionally spear tackled him by picking him up and throwing him against the motor vehicle.
In 2009 Merryweather and his younger brother Nicholas, 34, who was also assaulted by Scholtz in the incident, had originally claimed R11 million and R25 000, respectively against Scholtz, and three others, including Scholtz’s father Gerard.
The court initially ordered R10m in damages in June 2013 in favour of Merryweather, but this was set aside on appeal by a full bench in December 2015.
Judge Yasmin Meer had to rule on Merryweather’s claim for damages, the determination of the costs of the suit and to test the credibility and reliability of the various versions of the brawl.
Summarising the evidence In her ruling, Judge Meer said Merryweather established that Scholtz wrongfully spear tackled him, causing bodily injury.
“On a determination of the merits of Merryweather’s damages claim, I accordingly find that the injuries sustained by him were caused by him being spear tackled by Scholtz, who is liable,” Judge Meer said.
Scholtz will now have to pay for Merryweather’s costs in the suit, as well as the costs Merryweather incurred in the appeal.
The court also ordered that Scholtz pay for three of the medical experts that gave testimony during the trial.
The trial was heard from November 8 to 21, 2019, and then from March 11 to 16, 2020 before being postponed to April 2020.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the various lockdowns, the trial did not recommence during 2020. The parties declined an offer for a remote trial, deeming this unsuitable.
The trial was consequently postponed to March 2021 in open court and was heard from March 12 to 27 and from May 13 to 14.