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Kanimbla is a leafy suburb at the foothills of the northern end of the Macalister Range that forms the dramatic backdrop to Cairns.
On an otherwise quiet afternoon in June 2017, Scott Kruger was there – at home with his partner and young daughter – trying to settle his sick child when the sound of dirt bikes revving outside shattered the peace, again.
According to Kruger, this was part of a long-running pattern of nuisance riding by local youths on unregistered bikes along the grass verge of Ramsey Drive, just opposite his home.
Frustrated, he decided to confront the riders himself.
He stepped onto the narrow strip of grass between the street and a culvert. One of the riders, D
aniel Cronn, was approaching from about 110 metres away, his girlfriend seated pillion behind him.
There are two competing versions of what happened next and how exactly Kruger’s right forearm came into contact the dirt bike with such force that it snapped both his radius and ulna.
Those serious injuries lead to an inevitable injury compensation lawsuit seven years later.
Kruger evidence in the four-day trial in Cairns’ District Court was that he “froze “as Cronn accelerated toward him at about 60 km/h, and instinctively raised his arms to protect himself when it became clear Cronn wasn’t slowing down.
Cronn’s account was radically different. He claimed that as he approached at a much slower speed, Kruger unexpectedly stepped into his path multiple times, effectively blocking him from passing safely.
When Cronn attempted to swerve around him, Kruger suddenly swung his right arm up — in what Cronn described as a deliberate “clothesline” move — striking Cronn in the head and causing both rider and pillion passenger to crash.
Cronn’s girlfriend, who had been riding pillion, supported his version, telling the court that Kruger’s actions were sudden, aggressive, and deliberate. She lost consciousness in the crash and came to moments later to find Kruger standing over them and shouting.
That version was supported by his own earlier admissions in a call to his then-partner and said he had “clotheslined” the rider. He made similar statements to healthcare professionals in the following weeks admitting he had swung his arm up or “allowed the collision.”
Legally, Kruger attempted to rely on Cronn’s earlier criminal conviction for dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm — hoping that would strengthen his civil case under Queensland’s Evidence Act and shift liability onto Cronn and the Nominal Defendant.
Judge Joshua Treviño was not persuaded.
He found that Kruger’s trial evidence was inconsistent, unreliable, and contradicted by his own earlier statements, the pillion passenger’s evidence, and the contemporaneous medical records.
The court concluded that Kruger had indeed swung his arm in a deliberate attempt to block or strike Cronn, directly causing the collision and his own injuries.
This case serves as a sharp reminder of how easily credibility, inconsistent accounts, and a few early admissions can tip the scales in personal injury law — particularly when an act of frustrated self-help starts to look more like provocation than protection.
Kruger v Cronn & Nominal Defendant [2025] QDC 21 Trevino KC DCJ, 7 March 2025
Categories: Motor Cycle Accident