Queensland man James McLeod has sued his dead wife's estate for more than $2.3 million claiming she recklessly or deliberately killed their four children in a head-on vehicle collision.
Charmaine McLeod, 35, and her children Aaleyn, 6, Matilda, 5, Wyatt, 4, and Zaidok, 2, died on May 27, 2019, after the SUV Ms McLeod was driving hit a truck on the Bunya Highway at Kingaroy northwest of Brisbane.
In a lawsuit originally filed in October 2021, Mr McLeod claimed aggravated damages for negligence or intentional infliction of emotional distress totalling $2,341,400 including loss of income and medical expenses as a result of psychological effects from the tragedy.
Mr McLeod also sued Ms McLeod's compulsory third-party (CTP) motor vehicle insurance provider, AAI Limited trading as Suncorp, claiming that he was affected by her crash as she had breached her "duty of care" while driving with their children as passengers.
Solicitors for Mr McLeod subsequently agreed to wait until an inquest into the deaths of Ms McLeod and her four children has been completed before filing an amended statement of claim.
The inquest last month finished three weeks of public hearings in Brisbane and is now taking written submissions from the parties involved.
Mr McLeod's current statement of claim alleges he suffered post-traumatic stress with prominent associated anxiety and depression, adjustment disorder with depressed mood and alcohol use disorder as a result of losing his children.
His lawsuit stated he intended to seek employment as a part-time firefighter, truck driver or plasterer as soon as his youngest child started school.
"The ongoing symptoms are significant barriers to (Mr McLeod) seeking and maintaining gainful employment," the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit claimed Mr McLeod was unlikely to work as truck driver or firefighter due to now suffering anxiety whenever he travelled in a vehicle and he had been granted the disability support pension in August 2020.
Suncorp responded to the statement of claim in December 2021 and said it would defend that matter.
The response stated Mr McLeod's claims for lost income and damages were "excessive and unreasonable" and not valid under the motor accident insurance act.
"Because the duty of care owed by the driver of a vehicle is to exercise reasonable care and skill in management of the vehicle," Suncorp stated.
Suncorp also stated it had "contrary medical evidence" that Mr McLeod had, in the years prior to the fatal collision, been prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication as well as twice been charged for drink driving.
"(Mr McLeod) had not worked in paid employment since at least 2008," the lawsuit said.
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