Knee injury claim dating back to 2008 against Scone Race Club tossed out

Gregory James Cottom was working as a labourer with the club when he slipped and twisted his right knee while removing a bag of rubbish from a garbage bin in 2008.

Three years later he had a total knee replacement, then in November, 2015, he made a claim for compensation for permanent impairment, assessed at 20 per cent, which was accepted.

He later brought proceedings for workplace injury damages in the District Court where he was initially successful, but a judgement in his favour was later reversed on appeal.

Then in June, 2020, Mr Cottom filed an application to revisit the degree of his whole person impairment assessment, to include a lumbar spine injury which he claimed occurred as a result of his damaged knee.

He claimed that his injured his back while trying to help his son move a mower off the back of a trailer, during which his right leg could not support him and he twisted his back.

"I thought this was all due to my leg injury and not being able to walk straight," he said.

"I believe my lower back problems are related to my original knee injury and wish to claim same as part of my whole person impairment."

The fact there was an unresolved dispute over an injury suffered 16 years ago was "troubling", a panel of judges in the Supreme Court of Appeal agreed in their recent decision.

But there was no evidence to support a link between the original injury and the incident in February, 2021, and causation would, and may still, be controversial, the judges ruled.

His application for the re-assessment was denied for that, and a number of reasons including that he was asking for deterioration of his knee to be taken into account as part of the new assessment, along with issues with his spine, neither of which were part of the initial medical assessment.

Mr Cottom's latest claims was also unaccompanied by any expert opinion linking the back injury to his knee injury.

The application was dismissed and Mr Cottom was ordered to pay the costs of Scone Race Club.