When I think of nutty lawsuits I typically think of their prevalence here in the United States, but occasionally our friends across the ocean also receive their fair share of bizarre cases.
Take the case of Brendon Fearon. Fearon, 33, was shot and wounded during an attempted burglary at a farm house. A legal decision last week will allow Fearon to press ahead with his case against the owner of the farm house — in fact, Fearon received money from a government-funded Legal Aid organization to press his case against his assailant, Tony Martin.
Martin is currently in jail after being convicted of manslaughter for killing Fearon’s 16-year-old burglary accomplice Fred Barras.
Fearon served 18 months of a three year sentence for the burglary, but is back in jail on drug charges (he has amassed more than 30 convictions over his short live). These two paragraphs from the Daily Telegraph really highlight the idiocy of the whole case,
An earlier hearing was told that Fearon claimed that his injuries, which included a leg wound, had affected his ability to enjoy sex and martial arts and that he had suffered post-traumatic stress.
The judge said that the full hearing must consider what rights a householder has to protect his property and also whether a burglar can be deemed to be outside the law.
Source:
Tony Martin to be sued by the burglar he shot. The Daily Telegraph, June 14, 2003.