Children of James Ackerman to receive $600,323 after on‑field shoulder charge settlement
Supreme Court orders payout to be held in trust a decade after Sunshine Coast Falcons prop died following banned tackle
A Queensland Supreme Court judge has ordered more than $600,000 be held in trust for the two children of rugby league player James Ackerman, more than a decade after he died following a banned shoulder charge in a Queensland Cup match.
Justice Elizabeth Wilson on Thursday recorded a $600,323 settlement for Olliver, 13, and Milly, 12, to be held in trust and paid to them when they turn 18. The settlement closed a civil claim brought by the children’s mother, Saraa Spaens, against former Brisbane Broncos forward Francis Molo, the Norths Devils feeder club and the Broncos. The defendants denied liability but agreed to settle the claim, which sought damages for nervous shock and loss of dependency.
The settlement represents the first concrete legal outcome in a saga that began in June 2015, when Ackerman, then a 25‑year‑old prop for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, collapsed during an Intrust Super Cup game at Bishop Park in Brisbane’s north after a collision with Molo. Ackerman was treated on the field and taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where doctors found a torn carotid artery and catastrophic bleeding on the brain; he died two days later. His organs were donated.
Witnesses and medical evidence at a 2017 coronial inquest, presided over by Deputy State Coroner John Lock, found Ackerman’s death was caused by rapid head and neck deceleration consistent with a shoulder charge. The coronial inquest heard that even without direct contact to the head or neck, the force of such a collision could tear an artery and cause fatal bleeding. Queensland Police advised against criminal charges, and the coroner accepted that advice, concluding the evidence did not meet the threshold for prosecution.
At the time of the incident the Queensland Rugby League judiciary charged Molo with a grade‑five shoulder charge and suspended him for nine matches, the harshest penalty available under the competition’s rules then in force. The shoulder charge technique had been outlawed in the NRL in 2013.
Since Ackerman’s death, his family pursued civil remedies. His mother, Sonya Ackerman, launched separate negligence proceedings in 2021 alleging she developed post‑traumatic stress disorder and accusing the Broncos and Devils of tolerating repeated shoulder charges by Molo. That matter remains before the courts and has not progressed since 2022. Spaens’ claim on behalf of her children was filed in July and advanced rapidly to the settlement recorded last month.
Barrister Geoffrey Barr, who represented the children in the proceedings, told the court they had suffered nervous shock and a loss of dependency. Under the trust order, Olliver is to receive $283,376 and Milly $316,947 on reaching the age of 18.
The settlement brings a measure of financial security for Ackerman’s children but does not resolve other legal questions still before the courts. Ackerman is remembered each season by the rugby league community as a tough and respected forward. Molo has continued his professional career since the suspension, later playing for the North Queensland Cowboys and St George Illawarra before joining the Redcliffe Dolphins and making his State of Origin debut for Queensland in 2021.
The ruling closes one chapter in a decade‑long legal and sporting aftermath of the 2015 collision, while civil proceedings initiated by other family members remain unresolved.