A Telecom Eireann worker had obtained £97,000 in compensation for injuries he received in eight accidents spanning a period of 22 years, a judge was told yesterday. Mr Sidney Sutton (53), of Albert College Drive, Glasnevin, Dublin, when cross-examined by defence counsel Mr Declan Buckley, confirmed awards ranging from £7,500 to £22,000. In the Circuit Civil Court yesterday he claimed a further £30,000 damages against an uninsured driver and the Motor Insurers' Bureau for back injuries received in a rearending accident in April 1993.
Judge Michael White, who awarded him £1,500 damages and District Court costs, described the accident as a minor mishap. Judge White said Mr Sutton had been involved in a number of previous genuine accidents. "But in the course of these and previous proceedings and in medical reports taken by different doctors, he has been less than frank in dealing with his previous medical history and in disclosing the nature and extent of the earlier accidents and injuries," he said.
Judge White said there had been serious credibility gaps in both the evidence of Mr Sutton and that of Mr Denis O'Neill, Portland Court, North Circular Road, Dublin, the uninsured driver of the car which caused the accident. Mr O'Neill had admitted on oath to lying about his insurance cover at the scene of the accident.