Crime & Law

Chef who said he had slipped on flour in Lamb Doyles kitchen withdraws injury claim

Court heard claimant’s account had changed and expert would say flour would have made floor less rather than more slippery

The court had heard evidence regarding the fall when the claimant instructed his legal team to withdraw the case. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
The court had heard evidence regarding the fall when the claimant instructed his legal team to withdraw the case. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Ray Managh
Wed Dec 18 2024 - 16:01

A chef who worked at Lamb Doyles pub and restaurant, which traded at the foot of the Dublin mountains until it was sold as a prime residential development site, has withdrawn a €60,000 personal injuries claim against the insurers of the now defunct business.

Ahmed Rashed, of Mullaunmore, Ballon, Co Carlow, claimed he had slipped more than 10 years ago on flour on the floor of a small dry store room while reaching for a bag of rice.

Mr Rashed had detailed his fall to Judge Fiona O’Sullivan in the Circuit Civil Court on Wednesday, and the consequences of an alleged shoulder injury, until deciding to withdraw the case during a break in a detailed cross-examination by defence barrister Gráinne Berkery.

Questioned about self-injecting with a Voltarol painkilling medication which he had described to his doctor, and differences between initial claims about how the accident had happened and what he had told the court, Mr Rashed took the opportunity of a brief adjournment by the judge to inform his legal team to withdraw his case.

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Ms Berkery, who appeared with Stephen MacKenzie Solicitors, told Mr Rashed that in his initial visit to a VHI Swiftcare clinic in Dundrum he had told a doctor there he had been trying to lift a bag from a height when it fell and he had dislocated his left shoulder by hyperextending his arm.

She said that in his initial complaint to the Injuries Resolution Board there had been no mention of flour.

Counsel said he had failed to tell his GP that he had dislocated his left shoulder as a child. She also told him that the defence forensic engineer would tell the court that dry flour on the floor of the store would have made the surface less rather than more slippery.

Following the adjournment the judge was told Mr Rashed was withdrawing his case which could be struck out without further court order.