A 65-year-old musician has been awarded €18,000 damages for injuries suffered in a car crash despite a judge saying the man “sought to mislead the medical profession almost at every turn”.
Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke rejected an application to throw out John McCormack’s personal injuries claim, saying he felt he would be doing an injustice to the singer-songwriter because of a psychiatric history.
Tom Clarke, counsel for Mr McCormack, said his client had been injured when an unidentified driver twice rammed his car while trying to pass him on Greenfort Avenue in Clondalkin, Dublin on May 2nd, 2012.
Mr Clarke told the court it may have been Mr McCormack’s psychiatric and depressive background that may have caused him to act as he did with doctors.
Frank Martin, counsel for the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland, told the Circuit Civil Court that Mr McCormack, of Greenfort Lawns, Clondalkin, had appeared on a TV talent show and performed in Dublin after telling doctors he had been “permanently crippled” in the crash.
Mr Martin said Mr McCormack’s claim for damages arising out of the incident was his “fourth visit to the well of compensation”.
Severe pain
Robert McQuillan, a consultant in emergency medicine, said that when he examined Mr McCormack at Blackrock Clinic he put on “a performance” of jerky digitilised movements of a man in severe pain. He had hobbled into his examination rooms leaning on a stick, the doctor said.
“He told me he was permanently crippled and that if he moved it would kill him and that his back was jammed,” Dr McQuillan said. “He moved slowly with a lot of grimacing and groaning.”
He later viewed footage from a video taken by a private detective, on behalf of the MIBI, 45 minutes after Mr McCormack left his clinic. There was no resemblance to the man in the video, walking upright without a stick and bending over to get into his car and the man he had seen earlier, Dr McQuillan said.
Prof John P. McIlwaine said he met Mr McCormack on behalf of the Injuries Board and clinically it had not been possible to examine him.
“He wouldn’t get out of the wheelchair (he had been supplied with at reception) and said he was in so much pain he could not do anything,” he said.
Prof McIlwaine said he later viewed a video of Mr McCormack taking part in RTÉ's Voice of Ireland TV show.
“He was holding the microphone in his right hand, able to walk around and hyper extend his leg. I didn’t get the impression he was in significant pain.”
When questioned by Mr Martin about his television appearance and videos of himself posted on YouTube, Mr McCormack said he had good days and bad days and often felt much better after having applied a morphine patch.
He said his heroes were Elvis Presley and Inglebert Humperdink and compared his musical recordings following the accident with David Bowie who, he said, had made his final album while suffering from cancer prior to his death.
Psychiatric report
Mr Clarke submitted a psychiatric report on Mr McCormack to the court and stated his condition may have contributed to the manner in which he had dealt with doctors during medical examinations.
Judge Groarke, awarding him €18,000 damages, said it was accepted he was involved in an accident in which he had been hit twice and the car had been written off.
Judge Groarke said Mr McCormack had given false and misleading evidence and had sought to mislead the medical profession almost at every turn. However, the law did not require him to dismiss a case in these circumstances if such a decision would result in an injustice being done.
“I have to keep in mind that, despite Mr McCormack having failed to attend doctors for little or no medical treatment, the court is dealing with someone who has a psychiatric condition.”