The Court dismissed the plaintiff's claim for damages arising from alleged sexual abuse at Mount Penang Juvenile Justice Centre, on the basis that the plaintiff failed to discharge his onus of proving on the balance of probabilities that the abuse occurred as alleged. The judgment turned heavily on credibility findings: the plaintiff's account of the physical layout of the gymnasium (including the existence of functioning showers and a bathtub), the circumstances in which the abuse allegedly occurred, and the time of day were found to be inconsistent with the weight of evidence from multiple former staff members and contemporaneous records. The judgment is incomplete as published (cutting off mid-analysis), but the dismissal order indicates the Court was not persuaded the abuse occurred in the circumstances alleged, notwithstanding the application of principles from GLJ recognising that inconsistencies in historical abuse accounts are not necessarily fatal to credibility.
The full text is available to signed-in members.