The High Court has awarded Joseph Mulcahy €88,406 after finding that Alphonsus Clifford’s vehicle rear-ended his car at the mouth of a Limerick roundabout in November 2016.
In a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Barr on 25 June 2021, the court rejected Clifford’s account that Mulcahy’s car veered from the left lane into the front passenger side of his vehicle. The judge found that Mulcahy had stopped in the right-hand lane at the Tipperary roundabout on Ballysimon Road and was struck from behind. The court found no contributory negligence by Mulcahy.
The judge relied in particular on a Garda’s sketch showing both cars in the right-hand lane after the collision, and on evidence from a paramedic who recorded each driver’s account at the scene. The damage to the vehicles, the court said, did not establish how the collision happened. It found the paramedic’s record of Clifford’s account inconsistent with his evidence at trial.
The court considered Mulcahy’s extensive medical history, including earlier neck pain, degenerative changes in his cervical spine and pre-existing depression and anxiety. It found the crash significantly worsened his neck condition, including a disc problem at C6/7, and that he continued to experience pain radiating into his left shoulder and arm. The judge accepted that surgery had been recommended and that Mulcahy intended to proceed, while noting it carried risks and was not guaranteed to provide substantial relief. The court expected some symptoms to remain after surgery.
The judge also found that the accident aggravated Mulcahy’s pre-existing mental health difficulties. Those problems had returned to their previous baseline by about 2020. The court found he would have some ongoing lower back pain, but noted that he did not overstate its current level.
The award included €50,000 for pain and suffering to date and €25,000 for future pain and suffering. The court said agreed special damages included costs for cervical surgery, payable because Mulcahy indicated that he intended to undergo it, with those sums to be reimbursed to his medical insurer in due course. The total award was €88,406, for which the court entered judgment against Clifford.