The High Court awarded Patrick McDonnell €89,250 in damages after finding that injuries from a 2019 rear-end collision caused lasting pain and limitation in his right shoulder as well as significant psychiatric injury.
In a judgment delivered on 6 December 2022, Mr Justice Barr valued general damages at €75,000: €50,000 for pain and suffering to date and €25,000 for future pain and suffering. The award included €55,000 for the dominant shoulder injury and a €20,000 uplift for psychiatric effects. The court added €14,250 in agreed special damages and gave judgment for McDonnell against Upton Foods Ltd.
The collision occurred on 30 November 2019, while McDonnell’s car was stationary as he waited to turn into a garage. A van driven by an employee of the company struck it from behind. Liability for causing the accident was not in issue; the court was assessing damages.
McDonnell suffered a tear to the rotator cuff in his right shoulder and underwent surgery in March 2020. His symptoms improved substantially, but the court accepted that he continued to experience pain, discomfort and some functional limitation, which were expected to be permanent. He had been unable to return to swimming at anything like his previous level, and had reduced his involvement in coaching and other activities.
The court also accepted evidence that he developed an adjustment disorder with depressive and anxious features, reaching the threshold for a diagnosis of depressive disorder of moderate severity. A psychiatrist considered that he had begun to improve and recommended cognitive behavioural therapy. The judge described the psychiatric injury as significant and awarded the uplift.
The parties differed on valuation. McDonnell’s counsel proposed €60,000 for the shoulder injury and a €20,000 uplift; the company’s counsel proposed €35,000 to €40,000 for the shoulder and €5,000 for psychiatric effects. In reaching its decision, the court took account of the overlap between multiple injuries under the Personal Injury Guidelines and noted other health issues and distress in McDonnell’s life that were unrelated to the collision.