€60,000 claimant accused of lying
A WOMAN and her husband had a €60,000 compensation case thrown out after she was accused of lying consistently under oath while giving evidence of multiple claims she has taken.
Brian and Tina Lawrence, from St Finian’s Grove, Lucan, Dublin, took the case in relation to a 2016 car crash.
The serial litigants, both aged 25, saw Judge Patrick Quinn dismiss the case at Dublin Circuit Civil Court after Ms Lawrence couldn’t remember the details of previous accidents she had been involved in.
Defence counsel Shane English accused her of repeatedly lying on the stand.
He put it to her that she lied about having X-rays when the medical report showed she did not get one.
She also lied about not having lived in previous addresses when she had, according to Mr English.
She claimed she suffered back, shoulder and arm pain after the taxi she was travelling in collided with another vehicle in Clontarf, Dublin.
“I can’t remember,” she told the court when asked about how many previous accidents she had been involved in.
She received €10,000 in 2016 for a 2013 crash, which she didn’t remember.
Ms Lawrence also couldn’t remember another claim she made for a crash in 2013.
She did not recall that her unemployed husband, who drives a 171-reg Mercedes, was in the vehicle during the crash and that in the other car was her friend Ann Mongan.
“Haven’t you lied through your teeth about how many accidents?” Mr English said.
“A lot of bad things have come up, so my head is not in the right place,” Ms Lawrence had told the court.
At one point the case was adjourned so Ms Lawrence could get her memory back.
She then ran to speak to her husband, despite being told not to discuss the case.
“I’ve had enough,” the judge said as he dismissed the case.