INXS guitarist Tim Farriss sues boat hire company over loss of his finger

In 2015, INXS guitarist Tim Farriss went on a boat trip which ended in a fatal injury that cost him his finger. Four years after the incident that left him unable to work as a guitarist, he now sues the Sidney boat company.

During the sailing trip to Sidney, an electric anchor wrapped itself around Farriss's ring finger, severing it in the process. Two surgical procedures couldn't save the finger. "I don't know if I will be able to play properly again", the guitarist stated in an email to his bandmates and manager back in 2015.

In a statement for the NSW supreme court civil case, he recalls the accident: "My hand was covered in rust, blood and mud, but I could see one of my fingers had been severed and the others were disfigured, badly lacerated and bleeding."

Farriss' legal team claims that the boat's anchoring equipment bore a risk of injury for anyone operating it and that the anchor was not fully functioning. According to the INXS guitarist, the anchor's chain was "prone to 'kinking'", causing it to spin out of control.

They also argue that the boat's operators John William Axford and Jill Mary Axford didn't properly teach Farriss on how to use the equipment. A claim, which was denied by the defence: "If [Farriss] suffered injury, loss or damage [which is not admitted], the defendants say such loss and damage was caused or contributed to by the first plaintiff’s own fault and negligence".