The High Court has awarded Katherine Singleton €165,000 in damages for injuries she suffered in a serious road collision in February 1999.
Ms Singleton was travelling as a front-seat passenger when the car she was in was struck by a vehicle driven by Brian Doyle. Liability was admitted and there was no dispute that she had been wearing her seat belt.
She was taken by ambulance to Loughlinstown Hospital and discharged after several hours. In the days that followed she developed neck and shoulder pain, nausea and other symptoms. Her condition later worsened and an MRI scan in February 2000 revealed a cervical disc herniation.
She subsequently underwent a discectomy and fusion at C6/7. The operation was medically successful, although she experienced significant discomfort afterwards and developed voice difficulties associated with the surgery. She also later underwent pain-management procedures for continuing neck and lower-back symptoms.
The defendant disputed the extent to which all of Ms Singleton's complaints could be attributed to the 1999 accident. She had been injured in an earlier 1990 collision and had a history of depression, while some of her medical advisers had not initially been given the full detail of those previous symptoms.
Mr Justice Michael Peart nevertheless accepted her general credibility, describing her as a poor historian rather than someone who had deliberately concealed relevant information.
On the medical evidence, the judge found on the balance of probabilities that the cervical disc herniation was caused by the 1999 collision. He also accepted that her continuing lower-back problems were related to the accident, while taking account of her pre-existing degeneration and weight as factors making her more vulnerable.
The court excluded carpal tunnel problems and a later shoulder impingement from the damages assessment because those conditions were not being claimed as consequences of the crash.
Peart J awarded €120,000 for past pain and suffering, €35,000 for future pain and suffering and €10,000 in special damages, producing a total judgment of €165,000.