subject: Accident Prone Man Wins Compensation Claim [print this page] It has been revealed that an accident-prone man has won a compensation claim, after filing over a dozen in the past twenty years.
The 52-year-old taxi driver and addiction counsellor, from Bawnlea Close, Tallaght, Dublin, sued a telecommunications company after he suffered a personal injury.
He allegedly suffered a twisted ankle on a telecommunications box which was situated outside his property.
He took his compensation claim to the High Court, where he was told on the second day that his claim had been settled. No details were revealed.
The case stated that around midnight on March 28, 2003, he twisted his ankle on the edge of a steel cover beside the kerb outside his home.
He was released from hospital and his ankle was put in a strap. However he complained of on-going pain and discomfort. Following reviews from an orthopaedic surgeon he was fitted with a plaster cast.
He claimed the firm conducted professional negligence as they were in breach of duty of care towards its maintenance, upkeep, repaid, supervision of the cover, the area around it and him.
He claimed that as a result of the incident, his ankle was still not right and that he suffered pain. However, because of the nature of his work as an addiction counsellor, he said that he tried not to take strong pain killers and adopted a more holistic approach to his condition.
Under cross-examination by counsel for the company, he said he knew the steel cover had been there since he moved into his home 30 years ago, but that it was camouflaged, adding I don't go looking for holes. The business denied any public liability.
A man with a past
The court heard on Thursday that he may have had as many as 13 or 14 claims including one for food poisoning but that he could not recollect them all and stated that they were not his fault.
The claimants injury lawyer, who labelled his plaintiff as being accident-prone, told the court another judge had once described him as being the luckiest or the unluckiest man.
When the judge asked if he had been involved in 13 to 14 previous personal-injuries actions, he accepted that he may have been involved in 10 or 11 such cases arising out of incidents that were not my fault.
The claimant said that over the years he had suffered injuries to his neck, knees, back and cruciate ligament. He also said it was probable he had brought proceedings as a result of falling and injuring himself in a neighbour's driveway in 1991, for which he received compensation of around IR10,000. Another case was brought against a bakery over alleged food poisoning.
He was also awarded compensation arising out of car accidents including ones that occurred in 1990, 1992 when his vehicle was hit by a drunk driver, 1995 and 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2001.
However, he said he could not remember the details of most the actions in which the telecoms firm claimed that he had been involved.
by: Oman
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