A broken ankle, a 'punch' at a cow trailer and almost €40k damages after incident at matchmaking festival
A man who suffered a broken wrist and a broken ankle when the wheel of a cow trailer rolled over his foot at the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival has been awarded general damages of almost €40,000 at the High Court.
Paudie Conway, 58, had sued the defendant Brendan O’Connell, the driver of a Toyota Avensis that was towing a cow box that he intended to sleep in that night through the Main Street of the Co. Clare town, in the early hours of September 8, 2019.
Mr Conway told the court he had been walking along the street with crowds of other festivalgoers, when Mr O’Connell’s car towing a cow box overtook him, and the wheel of the trailer went over his right ankle, causing him to lose balance and punch his hands against the cow box to stop himself from falling.
Mr Conway, an engineering contractor, suffered fractures to his right ankle and right hand, requiring surgery to fix his wrist and a fracture boot on his foot.
Paudie Conway. Pic: Brendan Gleeson
The High Court sitting in Limerick heard he was off work for a number of weeks and continues to suffer from swelling and pain.
Mr O’Connell accepted during cross-examination by Mr Conway’s barrister John Punch, that he overtook Mr Conway while driving in the centre of the street, abreast of a large crowd of festivalgoers. Mr Conway and others were walking on the left side of the road, and cars and caravans were parked along the right side, at the time.
Mr O’Connell, who denied any suggestion he might have been travelling too fast, said he suddenly heard a ‘loud bang’ and felt a severe thump to the cow box. He said he stopped his car and saw Mr Conway lying on the street next to his trailer.
Mr Conway, of Ballysimon Road, Limerick, accepted that he consumed around seven pints of beer and that, prior to the incident with Mr O’Connell’s trailer, he was asked to ‘move on’ by gardaí after he got into a verbal argument with a car park steward.
Brendan O’Connell. Pic: Brendan Gleeson
He had also stumbled and fallen onto a group of people sitting on a low wall earlier on the night.
Mr Conway denied under cross examination suggestions that he intentionally punched Mr O’Connell’s trailer. Judge Anthony Barr said Mr O’Connell was a professional driver with Bus Éireann, and that the cow box would normally be used for transporting livestock but it contained a double mattress, which Mr O’Connell said he intended to sleep in for the night.
The judge said Mr O’Connell accepted he had been driving around ‘12.5mph’ [20kph] at the time alongside a crowd, which, in his own words he considered ‘lively’. A Garda breathalyser test taken by Mr O’Connell after the incident showed he had no alcohol in his system at the time.
Mr O’Connell, of Askeaton, Co. Limerick, had been driving with dipped headlights, and he denied he should have had his full headlights on, or that it was necessary to have had his hazard lights on, given that he was towing a trailer.
Mr O’Connell said it would not have been appropriate for him to sound his car horn, as it was very late at night. Garda Christopher White gave evidence that at the time he saw Mr O’Connell driving extremely slowly, almost at a crawl. Garda White said that when the cow box was near Mr Conway, the plaintiff suddenly pivoted to his right, and facing the side of the trailer Mr Conway had put his two arms out making contact with the trailer.
Judge Barr found that, Mr O’Connell, knowing that the crowd was ‘lively’ and potentially intoxicated, and driving at the equivalent of 20kph, was driving ‘too fast and was therefore negligent’.
The judge said ‘on the balance of probabilities’ he was satisfied the accident occurred ‘in the manner alleged by the plaintiff’. Judge Barr said: ‘I have to find the defendant was negligent in the driving of this vehicle on the night in question.’ The judge also said that, while he accepted it was ‘reasonable’ for people to walk on the side of roads on certain occasions, they ‘must exercise extra special care for their own safety’.
Judge Barr said, although he had held that ‘liability’ for the plaintiff’s injuries rested with Mr O’Connell, ‘there must be a significant finding of contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff for failing to keep a proper lookout for motor vehicles’. The judge found Mr Conway ‘40% responsible for his own injuries’.
The judge said it was appropriate to value general damages at full value, at €65,000, and allowing for a deduction, due to contributory negligence on the part of Mr Conway, he awarded him a judgment of €39,000. Judge Barr put a stay on costs for a 28-day period, in the event of an appeal.
Speaking afterwards Mr Conway said: ‘I feel relieved it’s all over, it’s a weight off my chest.’
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