The claimant said that he had left valuable jewelry with the defendant for sale. The defendant said at first they had been stolen, but then returned jewelry which the claimant denied was what had been left. The defendant appealed a finding that he had converted the jewelry left. The judge found that both parties had been dishonest as to the values.
Held: Since both parties had lied, the court could not rely on any presumption normally available against a destroyer of evidence. Since the defendant had substituted jewelry, the new jewelry should be assumed to be worth less than the originals. The judge had applied the correct principles to assess the evidence, and had the advantage of hearing the parties in a long trial. The appeal failed.
Citations:
[2009] EWCA Civ 851
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Senate Electrical Wholesalers Ltd v Alcatel Submarine Networks Ltd (Formerly STC Submarine Systems Ltd) CA 22-Jun-1998
Where damages were to be awarded for breach of warranty on sale of goodwill, an assessment according to a price earnings ratio was appropriate only if used in the contract or agreed as appropriate by the experts. In the context of a notice clause in . .
Cited – Armory v Delamirie KBD 1722
A jeweller to whom a chimney sweep had taken a jewel he had found, took the jewel out of the socket and refused to return it. The chimney sweep sued him in trover. On the measure of damages, the court ruled ‘unless the defendant did produce the . .
Cited – Biggin v Permanite 1951
Devlin J discussed what a party must do to bring evidence to support his claim: ‘Where precise evidence is obtainable, the court naturally expects to have it [but] where it is not, the court must do the best it can.’ . .
Cited – Chubb Cash Ltd v John Crilley and Son (a firm) 1983
The prima facie measure of damages for conversion of a chattel is the market value of the chattel at the time of its conversion. . .
Cited – Malhotra v Dhawan CA 26-Feb-1997
There had been litigation as to the payment due on fees earned during the partnership. One party had destroyed the evidence which would have settled many issues. The court discussed the principle that it should presume all against a destroyer of . .
Cited – Dover District Council v Sherred and Another CA 5-Feb-1997
In the context of an application to condemn a property as unfit for human habitation, the court was asked to consider ‘whether the County Court judge should adopt what he called ‘a commonsense, lay, factual approach’ in cases of this sort, or . .
Cited – Senate Electrical Wholesalers Ltd v Alcatel Submarine Networks Ltd (Formerly STC Submarine Systems Ltd) CA 20-Dec-1996
. .
Appeal from – Zabihi v Janzemini and others ChD 28-Nov-2008
The claimant sought the return of jewellery of substantial value. The defendants said that they had been returned or sold and accounted for.
Held: The court must do its best on such evidence as it feels able to accept to place some kind of . .
Cited by:
Cited – Thwaytes v Sotheby’s ChD 16-Jan-2015
The claimant had sold a painting through the defendant auctioneers. He sought damages after it was certified to be an original rather than copy Caravaggio painting, and worth very substantially more. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Torts – Other, Damages
Updated: 19 November 2022; Ref: scu.371880
