The High Court rejected a car-rental company’s arguments that a 2011 crash near Lifford, Co Donegal, was staged and that the injured plaintiffs had materially exaggerated their injuries. It assessed general damages for six plaintiffs in appeals from Circuit Court awards, but the supplied judgment extract ends before the court’s final orders are shown.
Mr Justice Meenan delivered the judgment on 31 July 2017. The seven claims arose from a collision between a Ford Fiesta and a Peugeot on a roundabout near Lifford on the night of 28 or 29 June 2011. The judge said the Peugeot was already on the roundabout when the Fiesta struck its rear left side after failing to give way.
The first four named plaintiffs were passengers in the Fiesta. Martin Lafferty was driving the Peugeot, with the remaining plaintiffs as passengers. The Fiesta’s driver, Gareth Feeney, was also a defendant, along with Ryans Investments (N.I.) Limited, trading as Hertz Rent a Car, which owned the car. The Circuit Court had found the defendants liable and made awards on 16 June 2015. Those judgments and orders were appealed to the High Court.
Hertz argued that the collision was a “set up”, pointing to evidence that some occupants knew one another, a jovial phone call between Feeney and Lafferty after the crash, unexplained gaps in some accounts of the evening and the presence of both vehicles on the roundabout. The judge said some plaintiffs had been less than forthright about prior acquaintance, but that the evidence did not establish the collision was staged on the balance of probabilities.
Hertz also relied on section 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, which allows dismissal of a personal-injuries claim where a plaintiff knowingly gives or adduces materially false or misleading evidence. It alleged significant exaggeration and cited later activities including dancing, skiing, running and skydiving. The plaintiffs described recovery within a short period and no continuing effects; their medical reports, admitted by Hertz, were consistent with their evidence, the judge said. He found no basis to dismiss any claim under section 26.
The judge assessed general damages at €8,050 for Kevin Darragh, €6,550 for Ivan Hunter, €5,050 each for Aaron Kelly and Martin Feeney, €9,050 for Martin Lafferty and €9,550 for Thaddeus Deazley. The extract gives no assessment for Neil Lafferty and does not show the final orders, including the total awards or how the appeals were formally disposed of.