Court rejects Carolyn Reynolds’ appeal over judge’s alleged ‘skulduggerous behaviour’

‘IN preliminary hearings, his honour tolerated angry, illogical and irrelevant outbursts which many judicial officers would not have tolerated.’

Carolyn Reynolds, pictured in 2016 after being preselected as the Country Liberal Party candidate for Goyder

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ROCK Centre owner Carolyn Reynolds’ fight to keep her Doctors Gully climbing gym open has been dealt another blow after an appeal was dismissed in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The City of Darwin applied for an eviction order from the Local Court after Ms Reynolds’ lease lapsed and following almost a year of litigation, judge Alan Woodcock ruled in the council’s favour in August.

Ms Reynolds appealed that ruling in the Supreme Court, claiming Mr Woodcock’s “skulduggerous behaviour” in the proceeding amounted to a miscarriage of justice.

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But in upholding the lower court’s decision, Justice Peter Barr said it was Ms Reynolds who was “conducting herself inappropriately”, including by “raising her voice” and “making personal attacks upon the judge”.

“In preliminary hearings, his honour tolerated angry, illogical and irrelevant outbursts which many judicial officers would not have tolerated,” he said.

“I am satisfied that his honour dealt with the appellant in a manner which was very fair to her, at times undeservedly so.”

Justice Barr also rejected Ms Reynolds assertion Mr Woodcock had dismissed health concerns she raised during the proceedings, saying she had ignored medical advice to obtain representation.

“Instead, she launched a verbal assault against the judge,” Justice Barr said.

“She employed vitriol as camouflage for her unwillingness to acknowledge the connection between her elevated blood pressure and her refusal to obtain legal representation.

“As his honour noted, the appellant sought to delay the proceedings and “muddy

the waters” by means which included exaggeration, untruths and red herrings of various types.”

The council’s barrister, Wade Roper, applied for costs in both the Local Court and Supreme Court proceedings which will likely stretch to several thousand dollars due to the many delays.

Ms Reynolds told the court she would be appealing Justice Barr’s decision “to the full bench” and he extended a stay order on her eviction until Monday.

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“Your honour this is obviously a public interest case and under the public interest, obviously, I’m bringing this because this is a club, this is a very important part of Darwin’s schooling system,” she said.

“It’s not about me, this is about the children.”

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