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ARTICLE · 21 JUNE 2013

Can A Thief Sue The Reckless Driver Of The Get-Away Car?

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David Joyce was seriously injured when he fell from the back of a van driven by his uncle, Edward O'Brien.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Neil Guthrie
Neil Guthrie
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​David Joyce was seriously injured when he fell from the back of a van driven by his uncle, Edward O'Brien. This was no innocent Sunday afternoon excursion: they were, in fact, speeding away from the scene of a crime, having stolen some ladders. O'Brien later pleaded guilty to criminal charges of dangerous driving but maintained in the civil suit brought against him by his nephew that their common criminal enterprise was a complete defence to civil liability. In support of that, he (or his counsel) trotted out the old maxim ex turpi causa non oritur actio  (loosely translated, 'don't expect to recover if you yourself have been up to no good'). O'Brien's defence was successful in the trial court. Joyce appealed: Joyce v O'Brien, [2013] EWCA Civ 546.

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