Former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Charlie Ward has been awarded €56,000 by an Irish court for a US fight purse he missed out on and injuries sustained when a Garda pursuit vehicle crashed into his car five years ago.
The Circuit Civil Court made an award of €44,000 to cover a lost fight purse worth $50,000 (€43,840) and added a further €12,000 for neck and head injuries Ward suffered.
The collision occurred when a Garda patrol car passed through a set of red lights on Long Mile Road, Dublin, to follow a motorist who had just broken the red light signal ahead of it.
Ward (45) of Acragar, Mountmellick, Co Laois, sued the Garda Commissioner for €60,000 damages arising from the crash, which, his barrister Conor Kearney said, cost him at least $50,000 in lost earnings.
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Kearney, who appeared with Aisling Woods of Michael Kelleher Solicitors, told Judge Sinéad Ni Chulachain he had won only one fight and lost three following the crash before his retirement in 2023.
The judge said liability had been conceded by the Garda Commissioner.
However, she said she was reducing the possible damages for contributory negligence due to Ward having admitted travelling in a bus lane before the collision.
She said he had lost $50,000 after pulling out of a contract to fight in the US shortly after the incident and was entitled to be compensated for that.
Ward told the court that following the crash he had never been able to fight to the same level. He said he was previously rated in the top 10 in the world at his fighting weight.
Barrister Fred Gilligan, who appeared for the Garda Commissioner, told the court the collision would most likely never have happened if Ward had not been illegally driving in the bus lane at the time.
Ward admitted in cross-examination by Gilligan that he should not have been driving in the bus lane.
Leading Irish MMA trainer John Kavanagh, who trained Ward at his Long Mile Road gym, told the judge that, absent the crash injuries, Ward could potentially have progressed in stages of $50,000 to purses as high as $500,000.
“He could not train or perform to the level he used to following the accident,” Kavanagh said.
On April 9th, 2016, Ward defeated Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho by technical knockout in a Dublin contest. Carvalho died in Beaumont Hospital two days later following emergency brain surgery.
