Michelle Murphy, a 36 year old married woman, who was injured in a road traffic accident on the 13th November 2006, has been awarded a total sum of €212,000 from the High Court.
Ms. Murphy suffered injuries to her right shoulder, neck, back and chest in the accident. She has not been in a position to fully return to work since the accident. Her problems were complicated by the fact that she was in the early stages of pregnancy of the accident. Anxiety for her unborn baby and the chronic pain associated with her physical ailments contributed to her developing depression.
Ms. Murphy was observed by a private investigator employed by the Defendant’s insurance company. This private investigator gave evidence to the Court that on one occasion Ms. Murphy made a snowball and threw it at her daughter. He told the Court that he did not observe any restriction in her movement on that day. The Judge examined photographs that were taken by Mr. Kelleher and came to the view that these photographs disclosed nothing that could take from Ms. Murphy’s version of how her injuries had affected her.
The Court made the following awards the Ms. Murphy –
- Pain and Suffering to date – €45,000
- Pain and suffering in the future – €25,000
- Medical expenses incurred by Ms. Murphy to date – €9,563
- Loss of earnings – €77,353
- Future loss of earnings – €55,692.00
