Gold Coast man suing judge alleged for wrongful jailing details life after custody

A Gold Coast man suing a judge has revealed the huge toll his time behind bars in a maximum-security prison had on his life after jail.

A Gold Coast man has told a court he stopped playing cricket, going to the gym or catching up with friends after he claims he was falsely imprisoned for six days.

The revelations came on the third day of a Federal Court hearing in Canberra, where the Queensland father-of-two is personally suing Judge Salvatore Paul Vasta.

The man – who cannot be named for legal reasons and is instead being referred to by the pseudonym Mr Stradford — wrapped up his evidence in court on Wednesday, appearing relieved that is time in the stand was finally over.

Federal Circuit and Family Court Judge Salvatore Paul Vasta is being personally sued by a Gold Coast man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

It all began when Mr Stradford and his then-wife appeared in the Federal Court Circuit in 2018 seeking property adjustment orders for their marital assets.

In mid-2018, Judge Vasta handed a self-represented Mr Stradford a 12-month prison sentence after he could not produce certain financial material to the court.

But the decision was quickly overturned by the full bench of the Family Court on appeal, who described the decision as a “gross miscarriage” of justice.

Mr Stradford claims he was imprisoned without lawful justification, spent six harrowing days in prison where he was beaten and strangled, became suicidal, and had suffered and would suffer millions of dollars in income losses, a court previously heard.

In court on Wednesday, Mr Stradford added he stopped being as social following his prison stint, in part for financial reasons.

“I was a lot more social and active prior to going to jail … We still did some things but certainly not to the same degree,” Mr Stradford said.

Mr Stradford spent six days in prison. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

He stopped going to the gym, playing cricket or catching up with friends in the same way, the court heard.

In cross-examination by the Commonwealth’s barrister Tom Howe QC over his finances in 2018, Mr Stradford said his wife had control of all his money at the time of their split and even paid for fake boobs out of one of his business accounts.

“She was in control of what we had at the time when things broke up,” he said.

Mr Stradford appeared distressed on the stand after numerous days of questioning, and told the court he didn’t think he was going to get any money out of the proceedings.

“Out of this, I got a massive tax bill and whatever you are going to do to me,” he said to Mr Howe during questioning.

The court previously heard that during a hearing on August 10, 2018, Judge Vasta told the man’s wife he could “do something about it” if he failed to provide the material.

“I don’t have any hesitation jailing people if they don’t comply with my orders,” Judge Vasta said at the time.

Salvatore Paul Vasta is being sued by a man who claims he was falsely imprisoned.

The court heard Mr Stradford was not given an opportunity to make submissions and there was no formal finding or charge of contempt, but he was given a 12-month prison sentence after Judge Vasta described the man’s protestations as “rubbish”.

The decision was quickly overturned on appeal.

Judge Vasta’s barrister, Jeremy Kirk SC, previously told the Federal Court he was only “a human being” who made a mistake, thinking another judge found Mr Stradford guilty of contempt.

“He made a mistake, there were significant consequences … nevertheless it was a mistake,” Mr Kirk said.

Mr Kirk said appeal courts exist to correct judicial errors such as Judge Vasta’s.

Mr Stradford is suing Judge Vasta, the Commonwealth and the State of Queensland for about $2 million in damages for deprivation of liberty and serious psychiatric injuries.

The hearing continues.