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A woman has been awarded more than $260,000 in compensation from an Australian railway company after a judge ruled the broken ankle she suffered on a train station's stairway prevented her escaping a rapist weeks later.
Television reporter Yu-Mei Chu, 36, from Taiwan, broke her ankle when she slipped on wet steps at a Sydney railway station in 2002. A few weeks later she was beaten and raped by a male acquaintance at his home.
Her lawyers argued had she not been on crutches with her foot in plaster, she would have been able to escape her attacker.
Their argument was accepted by the District Court of New South Wales, which ordered RailCorp to pay Chu A$239,405 ($267,535) for her injury, medical expenses, and lost wages.
A spokesman for RailCorp said that an appeal would be launched against the judgment.
"We have concerns that there are inconsistencies in the judgment and we are going to appeal," he said, adding that to the best of his knowledge the case was unprecedented in RailCorp's experience.
Chu, also known as Sherry Chu, was attending an English language school when she slipped and fell at Sydenham railway station in December 2002. Steps leading down to the station platform were dangerous when wet, an engineer's investigation found.
A yellow stripe on the edge of the stairs designed to make them more visible had been covered in a paint which made them slippery.
The court was told that paint with anti-slip grit in it should have been used instead.
After the sexual assault Chu became depressed, found it hard to socialise and watched her hair suddenly turn grey.
Judge John Goldring ruled that she would not have been raped had she been fully mobile. He said the ankle injury and subsequent sexual assault were "within the scope" of RailCorp's responsibility.
Professor Regina Graycar, from the law faculty at the University of Sydney, said the case was unusual but not unprecedented.
"There have been previous instances where people have argued that they've sustained injuries which made them alcoholics.
"They sued whoever was responsible for the initial injury and won damages."
"The question is, how far do you take the causation down the line?
"There was a case in Britain where a man had a road accident and suffered brain damage. He subsequently raped two women. He sued the driver of the car for damages - for turning him into a rapist - and he won.
"I think this pushes the boundaries further."
