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When Daniel Murphy pulled over on the Gateway Motorway in 2017, he couldn’t have imagined the chain of events that would leave him physically injured, professionally derailed, and at the centre of personal injury compensation claims arising out of two separate accidents.
Murphy wasn’t involved in the original accident. He stumbled upon that tragedy — a man fatally injured after being hit by a truck. Acting on instinct, he tried to assist. But as paramedics arrived and confirmed the man was deceased, he became gripped by anxiety fearing that he might somehow face criminal charges.
For Murphy – a First Nations man with a longstanding distrust of authority and pre-existing psychiatric disorders – this fear triggered profound psychological harm. Already living with complex PTSD, autism, anxiety, and depression, the incident added another layer to his struggles.Two years later, in 2019, his physical injuries arrived. While driving south on the Pacific Motorway near Upper Mount Gravatt, Murphy’s car was rear-ended as he exited the freeway.
The collision left him with neck and back pain, hip issues, and a frozen right shoulder. The impact on his car was immediate; the damage to his body only revealed itself over time.
The two accidents needed to be dealt with as having produced his wide-ranging symptoms in the injury compensation lawsuit he filed in in a complicated dispute over causation and damages.
Fortunately the drivers at-fault for both accidents had the same CTP insurer who accepted fault for the crashes. Suncorp though painted Murphy as a man exaggerating his injuries even accusing him of schooling up on recent court rulings to maximise his damages.
Justice Tom Sullivan, however, found Murphy’s experiences plausible given his complex mental health history, rejecting any suggestion of opportunism.
Murphy’s career path had been unconventional. Before the accidents, he ran forklift training businesses, imported granite, traded coffee, sold caravans, and dabbled in finance. He eventually earned a law degree and worked briefly in private practice before launching his own law firm. But professional instability followed, culminating in misconduct complaints, which were dismissed, and ultimately, a psychiatric assessment that found him unfit for legal practice.
In the end, the Supreme Court awarded Murphy $635,000 the largest component of which was $331,000 for future lost earnings, recognising that his legal career was effectively over. The court also allowed $108,000 for future paid care needs and awarded around $46,000 for medical expenses.
Suncorp had argued his pre-existing conditions would have limited him regardless but Justice Sullivan found the accidents—particularly the second—had significantly worsened his condition.
Murphy v Madill [2025] QSC 103 Sullivan J, 22 May 2025
Categories: First Responders , car accident