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A FORMER GARDA, who suffered soft tissue injuries to his upper body in a terrifying hit-and-run accident with a lorry which “skulked across the border”, has been awarded €75,000 damages in the High Court.
Mr Justice Michael Hanna said that retired Garda Frank O’Hara, who was based in Dromad, Co Louth, had been fortunate not to suffer more significant injuries after the lorry ran into the back of his patrol car almost 16 years ago.
Judge Hanna said that on 7 December 2000 O’Hara had been in the car, which was parked close to the border, when the lorry hit it from behind, causing significant damage to the vehicle.
The judge told Turlough O’Donnell SC, counsel for O’Hara, that the lorry driver “skulked across the border”, switching off his lights to avoid detection, in a “despicable and contemptible act”.
The judge today said during a Garda Compensation hearing that he had no doubt it had been a “terrifying” incident and O’Hara’s evidence was “utterly honest and utterly reliable”.
O’Hara, who sued the Minister for Finance, told the court that he later attended his GP complaining of neck, back and left shoulder pain. He had needed to take several weeks off work and had ongoing pain and difficulties walking.
Barrister Anne Rowland, for the State, said the Minister argued that O’Hara’s ongoing difficulties were not related to the accident but were due to a degenerative condition.
Judge Hanna said he was satisfied the soft tissue injuries O’Hara suffered had aggravated his degenerative condition. Awarding him €75,000 damages, the judge said the former Garda had understated the effect his injuries had upon him.
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Here we go again. Will soon have no arm left
@Shaun Gallagher: Wouldn’t sweat it, unless you feel you’re part of an at risk group ?
16,000 people in the whole wide world have a rash and it’s a health emergency. You couldn’t make it up.
@Eoin Clancy: kids get really sick from it,not too big of a deal for adults
@Niamh Hayes: Kids shouldn’t be getting monkeypox. Also, have they not changed the name of it yet?
@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: Why would the name change?
@Eoin Clancy: While they’re out sick, presumably there’s a shortage of healthy staff, in fairness.
@Eoin Clancy: 16,000 becomes 32,000 quite quickly, thus addressing early is key. How is it a self certified journal.ie epidemiologist such as yourself missed that?
@Gavin Conran: I didn’t know you needed a phd in epidemiology to make a comment. Making everyone scared doesn’t need a phd qualification does it? Did you specialise in fear at university?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Huh?
@Gavin Conran: just saw you’re fake Facebook account. Bot
How long does vaccine last, think I was given as a child
@Margaret Deacon: “How long does vaccine last”.
Googled : ‘Smallpox vaccination provides full immunity for 3 to 5 years and decreasing immunity thereafter.’
As opposed to the Covid ‘vaccine’ which may reduce your chances of serious illness
@Margaret Deacon: Immunity may last a lifetime, these researchers found that an 88-year-old was likely still immune due to the vaccine he received as a child. Though other info online says the vaccine provides maximum immunity for 3 – 5 years, and after then immunity starts to decline.
Taub, D.D., Ershler, W.B., Janowski, M., Artz, A., Key, M.L., McKelvey, J., Muller, D., Moss, B., Ferrucci, L., Duffey, P.L. and Longo, D.L., 2008. Immunity from smallpox vaccine persists for decades: a longitudinal study. The American journal of medicine, 121(12), pp.1058-1064.
@David Jordan: what science have we to follow this time ?
which of those studies is going to be called misinformation and anyone you read it a antivax nutter
@David Jordan: I assume that’s vaccination for smallpox. From what I’ve read on some UK information sites as this is a smallpox vaccine that also works for MP it may not provide full immunity but rather lessens the symptoms.
have your say