A woman alleged to have orchestrated with others a road accident "scam" involving two cars, one of which was bought three days beforehand for €40, had her action for damages dismissed by a High Court judge yesterday. He also awarded costs of the four day case against her.
Mr Justice Vivian Lavan said he didn't believe the account of the "collision" at Finglas village roundabout on the night of May 21st, 2000, given by either Ms Winifred McDonagh or of other persons, all known to Ms McDonagh, in the vehicle in which she was a rear seat passenger.
Ms McDonagh had consumed six pints of lager between 6pm and midnight and she and other occupants were so intoxicated their account of events could not be regarded as reliable or credible, he said. Ms McDonagh had given "various accounts of events at various stages" and he had grave reservations about her evidence. The only evidence he believed from any of the persons in the car was from a David Keenan who had said he was so drunk he could not remember anything, the judge added. This was "the only credible evidence I got from the Keenan family".
He accepted that the driver of the car, Martin Keenan, claimed not to have been drunk but, the judge added, Mr Keenan's demeanour "did not impress me".
He noted it was suggested Julia Collins, another occupant of the car, was not drunk. He said it was claimed by the plaintiff that Ms Collins was an important witness but she was not called because, the court was told, she had a sick child. The judge said he found that explanation "incredible" and he didn't accept it.
Evidence from gardaí and the emergency services of behaviour "which was bizarre in the extreme" at the alleged scene of the collision by Ms McDonagh and the Keenans was accepted by the judge, as was evidence that there was "a wholly unnecessary call out of the emergency services". He said Ms McDonagh and other occupants of the car were "wailing and screaming" and had caused "unholy uproar" at the scene to which three ambulances, two fire brigades and a Garda car were called.
He also believed evidence from an independent witness at the scene, Joseph Smart, who had said he saw an impact between two cars but did not regard it as a collision and believed it was so insignificant that nobody could have been injured.
Ms McDonagh, Glendruid, Shankill, Co Dublin, had sued Mr John Ward, said to be of Glin Road, Coolock, and alleged to be the driver of the other vehicle, and the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland. Mr Ward could not be traced and the case proceeded against the MIBI. Hibernian Insurance ran the four-day High Court case for the MIBI.
Ms McDonagh claimed she had been drinking on the evening of May 21st 2000 with members of the Keenan family, with addresses at halting sites in Finglas. She claimed they were travelling in a car driven by her brother-in-law, Mr Martin Keenan, when they were "seriously rear ended" at Finglas roundabout by another vehicle.
She claimed there were two persons in that other vehicle but they had run from the scene. Because the driver of the other car could not be traced, the case had proceeded only against the insurance company. The MIBI disputed that there was any accident and, after an investigation by Hibernian Insurance, filed a defence that the claims were made fraudulently. It was pleaded that the accident did not occur as alleged, that the injuries suffered by Ms McDonagh and others in the car were coincidentally similar, and that neither Ms McDonagh nor the other occupants of the car made a complaint to gardaí at the time.
