A man who claimed the prominent Polites family owed him $3 million in compensation for “fraud, perjury and false and misleading statements” has been declared a vexatious litigant by South Australia’s Supreme Court, The Advertiser reports.
Douglas Charles Russell is now prohibited from instituting proceedings in any SA court against Polites Investments, or any related company or person, without the Supreme Court’s approval.
This decision by Justice Sophie David marks the end of a 20-year court saga for the Polites family.
Mr Russell first took the former family patriarch, Con Polites, to court back in August 20, 2000, to stop his eviction from a business premises at 254 Hindley Street. These court proceedings were later retracted.
Since then, Mr Russell has launched numerous proceedings against the family, including an action in 2003 alleging he’d slipped on the stairs at the premises three times, injuring his back on each occasion.
Following yet another attempt by Mr Russell to bring an action against Polites in 2020, the company applied to have Mr Russell declared a vexatious litigant.
During the court case, Justice David said the “parties’ litigious relationship” demonstrates that “Mr Russell has sought to agitate and re-agitate substantially the same issues in numerous forums before multiple judicial officers.’’
In response, Justice David has made orders restraining Mr Russell from instituting any further proceedings against Polites without the consent of the court, and also ordered he pay Polites’ costs.
Source: The Advertiser.
