The Queensland Court of Appeal (McMurdo P and Thomas JA, Muir J dissenting) dismissed the State's appeal, holding that the trial judge was entitled to infer that the employer's failure to warn ward staff of a psychiatric patient's impending arrival and to ensure staff were present to greet and calm the patient caused the nurse's injury. The majority applied Betts v Whittingslowe, holding that where a defendant's negligence materially increased the risk of harm and the harm eventuated, the inference of causation was available even where the precise mechanism could not be established with certainty. Muir J dissented on the basis that the evidence did not support the conclusion that following the usual transfer system would have prevented the incident.
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