The High Court awarded a plaintiff €160,942.96 after finding that a road crash caused a serious and permanent injury to his right shoulder. Liability for the collision had already been admitted, so the trial dealt only with the assessment of damages.
The crash happened on 30 December 2009 at or near Man-O-War, Balrothery, County Dublin. The plaintiff was driving a Land Rover Discovery when a van driven by the defendant emerged from a minor road and struck it. The court heard that the impact pushed the plaintiff’s vehicle across the road and that it was later written off.
The plaintiff’s consultant orthopaedic surgeon said the collision caused an avulsion fracture, in which a piece of bone was torn away, along with detachment of shoulder tendons. The plaintiff had injured the same shoulder in a 2007 fall from a horse. The judge accepted the medical evidence that the earlier injury was different and that the plaintiff had recovered well from it before the crash.
The judge found that the plaintiff was a credible witness and accepted that the crash left him with lasting weakness and restricted movement, particularly for lifting above shoulder height and holding his arm in external rotation. His surgeon considered further improvement unlikely. The plaintiff could drive and undertake office or supervisory work, but had difficulty with manual handling and could no longer take part effectively in his former horse-related activities. The court excluded symptoms considered likely to be related to carpal tunnel syndrome rather than the crash.
The judge assessed general damages at €45,000 for pain and suffering to the date of judgment and €25,000 for the future. For past loss of earnings, the court accepted a net award of €49,678.96 up to the plaintiff’s employment in the UK in April 2013, after allowing credits for truck finance and estimated business expenses. The judge did not award the separately calculated future earnings claim. Instead, the court awarded €35,000 as enhanced general damages for reduced vocational opportunity, taking account of the lasting shoulder limitations alongside the plaintiff’s capacity and work prospects.
A further €6,264 in non-earnings special damages had been agreed between the parties. The resulting total judgment was €160,942.96. The judgment does not determine liability at trial, which had been conceded, or award the full past and future earnings figures advanced by the plaintiff.