A clerk with back injuries from a car crash was awarded almost £20,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday. But Mrs Maire Daly, Belgard Heights, Tallaght, Dublin, heard the Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth, cut the award to just under £8,000 on the basis she had been 60 per cent responsible for the incident.
Mrs Daly told her counsel, Mr Declan Buckley, she injured her back when a jeep and trailer belonging to Forbairt Teoranta, Glasnevin, Dublin, struck the rear of her car in July 1996.
Mr Justice Smyth said he was satisfied Mrs Daly had veered left out of her traffic lane before making a right-hand turn. He reduced a damages award of £19,700 to £7,880.