Hit and run claim victim drops case

A man who claimed €800,000 loss of earnings after suffering injuries in a hit-and-run incident withdrew his case yesterday after the High Court heard he had claimed to be earning €700 a week before the incident when an earnings certificate showed it was just €260.

Peadar McNulty (30), Clogher Road, Crossmaglen, Co Down, had sued the driver who hit him on a road in Dundalk, Co Louth, on December 19th, 2009, and the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland, which compensates victims of uninsured drivers.

Liability had been agreed on the basis of the defendants accepting 45 per cent responsibility and Mr McNulty 55 per cent after accepting he was standing in the middle of the road on a dark night when he was hit.

Mix-up with taxman

Mr McNulty had given evidence on Thursday that, as part of his claim for €800,000 in lost earnings, he was seeking past and future losses based on pre-incident wages as a building site digger driver of €700

a week.

Under cross-examination by Hugh Mohan, for the defendants, he was asked why he had instructed his solicitors he was earning  €700 a week when his P60 showed gross earnings of €365. When Mr McNulty said there must have been a mix-up with the taxman, Mr Justice Daniel Herbert said: “I think it’s time we stopped.”

The case was adjourned until yesterdaywhen Eoghan Fitzsimons, for Mr McNulty, told the court the case was not proceeding any further.