The High Court has awarded Brian Nolan, who sustained back injuries in a road traffic accident on the 10th April 2006 the sum of €46,125.00. Mr Nolan sustained back injuries when his landrover was rear-ended on the Naas Dual Carriageway when in a stationary position.
Mr Nolan claimed that the accident severely impacted on his sporting and working life. Mr Nolan was a successful Senior Inter-County footballer for 12 years and also played Senior rugby. He had suffered from a bad back from a very young age and the accident exacerbated his previous injury.
The Defendants maintained that Mr Nolan’s claim was founded on a small lie that got out of control. They submitted that his claim was in fact a fraud. They disputed whether Mr Nolan had in fact sustained a back injury at all in the accident. They claimed that whatever problems Mr Nolan had developed with his back in 2006 that those problems should not be linked with his road traffic accident. They claimed that Mr Nolan’s claim should be dismissed pursuant to the provisions of section 26 of The Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004.
The Judge stated that she was satisfied that Mr Nolan had significant degenerative changes in his back at the time of his road traffic accident in April 2006. The Judge held that the accident brought forward surgical procedures which the Plaintiff would of have to undergone anyway by 5 years. She said she was happy to conclude that Mr Nolan genuinely sustained soft tissue injuries to his lower back. She held that Mr Nolan had experienced a great deal more discomfort and pain earlier in life that he would otherwise have occurred and she awarded him €46,125.00 damages.
