INXS Rock Legend Suffers Major Legal Loss in Wake of Career-Ending Injury

Tim Farriss has walked away empty-handed after four years of legal action against the boat owners he claimed were responsible for ending his performing career. His appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales' decision not to award him any of the $622,000 he sought in damages for his finger amputation following a "traumatic" boating accident failed, according to The Daily Telegraph.

In addition, the Court of Appeal dismissed Farriss and his wife's claim for $40,000 in "damages for economic loss" for his inability to play guitar due to the injury. In January 2015, the 66-year-old was trying to anchor in Akuna Bay in Sydney, Australia's north, when a chain severed his left ring finger on a chartered boat.

After the accident, he sued the boat owners William Axford and Jill Mary Axford of Church Point Charter in the NSW Supreme Court in 2019, claiming the accident would prevent him from playing with INXS or writing music on his guitar again. In his complaint, he alleged negligence on their part in failing to maintain the boat, warn him of the risk, and give proper instructions.

Ultimately, Justice Richard Cavanagh found in favor of the motor cruiser's owners, John William Axford and Jill Mary Axford, in January 2022 and ordered Fariss to pay the couple's legal costs. The judge raised inconsistencies and changes in Farriss's account of the accident, including his claim he "couldn't be 100 percent sure" he did not step on the pedal and engage the chain.

"Needless to say, I am very disappointed with the judgment and am looking at my options," Farriss said in a statement following the ruling. Last November, he took the matter to the Court of Appeal, alleging that the boat owners had not complied with the statutory guarantees owed under Australian Consumer Law (ACL), reports the outlet.

According to Farriss, the anchor should have been well maintained and equipped with warning signs, but there were insufficient instructions on how to operate it. On appeal, he argued that the first judge failed to "substantively consider the claims under the ACL because of concessions made by counsel in closing oral submissions."

Nevertheless, last week, the court dismissed his appeal, upholding the primary judge's decision and ordering Farriss to reimburse Axford's legal fees. "The fact that the anchor did not work precisely as intended did not mean that the boat was not reasonably fit for Mr Farriss' purpose in chartering it," the ruling read.

"The evidence did not support a conclusion that Mr Farriss would not have chartered the boat had he known about any such propensity of the anchor chain." Furthermore, the appeal judges noted that Farriss did not present himself as an inexperienced boater.

The band INXS, which formed in 1977, also included Farriss' brothers, Jon Farriss and Andrew Farriss, as well as Garry Beers, Kirk Pengilly, and frontman Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997. As one of Australia's most popular rock bands, INXS has produced such well-known hits as "Never Tear Us Apart," "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," and "Suicide Blonde."