An Australian man has been awarded more than $300,000, after his lawyer successfully argued he was wrongly jailed by a judge who behaved like a character from Alice In Wonderland.
Key points:
- Judge Salvatore Vasta was likened to the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland during the trial
- The man was assaulted and threatened with rape during his wrongful incarceration
- He has been awarded $300,000 over the ordeal
Federal Circuit Court Judge Salvatore Vasta, the Commonwealth and state of Queensland were sued, after a Queensland man was jailed during a routine property dispute with his ex-wife in 2018
The judge found him in contempt of court for not providing financial documents.
The man was assaulted in a prison van and threatened with rape in jail, before the sentence was overturned on appeal.
His lawyer argued it was a “sentence first, verdict afterwards” parody of a court hearing, that resembled the Queen of Hearts in Alice In Wonderland.
Judges are typically immune from civil liability.
The man, who for legal reasons can only be referred to by the pseudonym “Mr Stradford”, was given a 12-month jail sentence in 2018 after Judge Vasta found him in contempt of court for not providing financial documents.
Mr Stradford, who represented himself in the civil case, said he tried his best to produce them.
He spent six nights in jail, which involved being transferred from a watch house to the maximum-security Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol.
The full bench of the Family Court overturned the jail sentence on appeal, describing it as a “gross miscarriage of justice”.
The plaintiff claimed he had an anxiety attack in a prison van where another detainee tried to strangle him.
Mr Stradford said he was also humiliated, assaulted, and threatened with rape by other inmates.
In The Federal Court on Wednesday Justice Michael Wigney awarded the man compensation and costs.