A €60,000 damages claim by a Dublin Airport security officer, who was alleged to have taken part in a road race weeks after suffering a knee injury, has been described by a judge as “outrageous”.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that this case has come to court with the view of maximising her claim for damages,” Judge John Martin said in the Circuit Civil Court.
He said Latvian national Olga Dresmane, of Water Rill, Malahide, Co Dublin, had set out to deceive every medical expert with the sole intention of increasing her damages award.
“That is not permitted by law and what Ms Dresmane has done is outrageous,” Judge Martin said as he threw out the proceedings and ordered her to pay the costs of the case.
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Defence barrister Padraic Hogan said Ms Dresmane’s name appeared on a list of runners participating in a mini-marathon 11 weeks after her accident at the airport. She claimed not to have run in it but was photographed in an 8km road race in Clontarf shortly afterwards.
Judge Martin handed Ms Dresmane a laptop with a zoomed-in picture of a woman kitted out for racing and asked if it was her. Having examined the photograph, she replied: “Mmmm Maybe.”
She denied having participated in a 10km mini-marathon in the Phoenix Park but said she attended the event with her daughter and walked a circuit with her.
Deliberately misled
Mr Hogan, who appeared with MacDara Norris of Beachcroft Solicitors, said Ms Dresmane (49), who was out of work for two years, had deliberately misled the court over the extent of her injuries.
Judge Martin heard that Ms Dresmane, who was responsible for X-raying luggage at security points in the airport, injured her left knee when a piece of carry-on luggage was accidentally dropped by one of her colleagues.
In his judgment, he said Ms Dresmane’s employer ICTS Ireland Limited conceded liability for her injury and the court was asked to assess the damages due.
“An unusual feature of this case is that every single doctor involved had a difficulty understanding the length of time her injury had persisted,” he said.
Judge Martin said the fact that doctors had difficulty understanding her ongoing pain for four years after the April 2018 incident raised a red flag to the court. “And if that red flag wasn’t flying high enough, I’m then presented with evidence of her part in sporting activity following her accident.”
Dismissing the case, the judge said it was a matter for ICTS Ireland to decide if there should be a follow up to his ruling on the evidence presented to the court.