Workplace Solicitor News » Road Accident Claim
Road Accident Claim
Posted: December 10th, 2021
The High Court has been informed that an “utterly dishonest” account of a car accident has been provided by the driver of a car, a doctor, in an accident that occurred after a red light was ignored and a girl was knocked down resulting in catastrophic injuries.
In the High Court Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds was told that in the aftermath of the accident in 2016 the driver alleged that the then 14-year-old girl was to blame for the incident and this was maintained for the following four years.
Now 19 years of age Ashleigh Carroll, who has been left in a brain damaged state, took a legal action for compensation against Dr Shereen El Mashad and requested that the court award aggravated damages in the case.
Ms Carroll’s counsel, Richard Kean SC, instructed by Keira O’Reilly of Keans Solicitors, informed the court that the doctor has since returned to her native Egypt and was not in court. He added that the doctor’s account of the accident in Coolock, Dublin was “utterly dishonest “ and if this defence had prevailed Ms Carroll would not have been compensated adequately for the horrific injuries she sustained. He urged the court to mark its “revulsion at the behaviour”. He added that an Irish arrest warrant exists for the doctor in relation to the accident.
The Judge was advised that the defendant Dr El Mashad was employed at Beaumont Hospital at the time the accident occurred on the morning of October 20 2016. It was added that she was travelling towards work when the incident took place. It was alleged by the plaintiff’s legal team that the doctor’s insurers, Axa, counsel said, had waited for four years to admit liability “when they knew their client was on the run”.
Ms Carroll took the legal action for pedestrian accident compensation against Dr El Mashad via her mother, Louise Carroll.
It is alleged that Ashleigh Carroll was lawfully walking along a public footpath near Oscar Traynor Road when the car of the defendant, specifically the wing mirror, struck the young female, knocking her to the ground and where she banged her head.
It was initially claimed by the legal team for the defence that Ms Carroll had created a public nuisance and hazard as she was crossing the road and that she had run into the side of her car.
The case continues.
Posted: April 12th, 2019
A convicted burglar, Thomas O’Neill, has been awarded €20,000 bike accident compensation at the High Court after he was involved in a hit and run accident.
47-year-old Mr Thomas O’Neill, who is at this time serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated burglary, told the Judge that that the accident happened on June 18, 2014. Following A day fishing with his son in Swords, he was returning home on his bike when he was knocked off it and hit the ground hard. He commented: “The last thing I remember was feeling the impact and waking up in the ditch on the side of the road.”
Mr O’Neill told the judge that he had been inflicted with a head injury, loss of consciousness for a time and as well as a number of wounds to his face and body. He had refused assistance from a passing taxi driver and made his own way home by bus once he hid his bike in the ditch. He could not recall how his bike subsequently got back to his home. Neither had he any memory of speaking to his Doctor or a nurse who treated him at Beaumont Hospital.
He had gone to the Garda Station to make a statement about the accident. Sergeant Brendan O’Connor informed the Court that Mr O’Neill had been ‘under the influence of an intoxicant’, when he attended the Garda Station to make the statement and was told to return later to complete this. However he had not come back.
Legal counsel for the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), Joseph McGettigan SC. accused, Mr O’Neill of fabricating the incident.
He said: “I am suggesting to you that for whatever reason, you have decided to concoct a case involving an untraced motorist, in order to get compensation, and you are here today with a story that just doesn’t add up. It is defying all credibility.
“I am suggesting to you that, whatever happened to you that day, you were not involved in a hit-and-run accident, and you decided to bring proceedings against the bureau without going through any normal channels. You never reported this case to the gardaí.”
Replying to this Mr O’Neill said: “I did report it to the guards.”
Mr O’Neill, the Judge was advised, had 20 previous convictions. However, Judge Hanna told the Court that these previous convictions did not mean he was not entitled to seek compensation for injuries in an accident. The Judge said he believed that the plaintiff was ‘not lying’ and was entitled to be awarded €20,000 inbike accident compensation.
Posted: August 24th, 2016
A five-figure settlement of compensation has been paid to a bicycle courier who was injured in a road accident with a taxi.
The accident occurred in March 2015, when Rotimi Omotayo was cycling on the Custom House Quay. However, taxi driver Kenneth Griffin pulled out from one of the lanes on the carriageway and snowed Rotimi from his bicycle.
Luckily, Rotimi was not seriously injured in the accident. Yet when he made a claim to the Injuries Board, his claim was dismissed on the grounds that he was believed to have contributed to his injury. The Injuries Board proceeded to issue the courier with authorisation to pursue his claim through the courts, and the case went to the High Court of Dublin. It was overseen by Mr Justice Bernard Barton.
During the hearing, Judge Barton heard evidence from witnesses for both Rotimi and Mr Griffin. It needed to be determined whether Rotimi had breached the Road Traffic Regulations by cycling in a hatched area.
However, upon hearing that Rotimi needed to deliver to the river side of the Quay, and as such was entitled to cycle in the outside lane before turning, Judge Barton dismissed allegations of contributory negligence and found in his favour.
When assessing damages, Judge Barton commented that he was not going to consult the Book of Quantum as he deemed it “hopelessly out of date and of little assistance”.
Instead, Judge Barton chose to apply Tort Law and awarded Rotimi €30,000 in general damages. Concerning the claim for special damages, the judge determined that there no evidence to show that Rotimi suffered a lack of earnings. He did, however, allow for compensation of Rotimi’s legal costs.
