Douglas Charles Russell, the man who claimed that 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.
Justice Sophie David said that in her judgment the accused had instituted vexatious proceedings by persistently instituting proceedings without reasonable ground.
Mr Russell, who on August 21, 2020 filed a cross claim against Polites Investments, its chief executive George Polites, former lawyer now Supreme Court Justice Mark Livesey, and others, seeking $3m in compensation, is now prohibited from instituting proceedings in any South Australian court against Polites Investments, or any related company or person, without the Supreme Court’s approval.
This decision marks the end of a 20-year court saga which started back August 20, 2000 when Russell first took the former family patriarch, Con Polites, to court, to stop his eviction from a business premise at 254 Hindley Street. Those court proceedings were later retracted.
According to court documents, Mr Russell had rented the premises from June 1999 to August 2000, but was evicted for breaches of the lease, including failing to pay rent.
Since then, Mr Russell has launched numerous proceedings, including an action in 2003 alleging he had slipped on the stairs at the premises three times, injuring his back on each occasion.
That case was eventually dismissed in 2009, with Mr Russell appealing in 2010, 14 months outside the time available to make an appeal.
In 2007 Mr Russell lodged a claim for losses sustained due to his eviction, with that matter struck out in late 2008.
