Man who withdrew €60,000 damages claim played ‘game of chicken’ with court

A man, who alleged his back and pelvis were injured when he slipped and fell in a Spar outlet, had played an expensive game of chicken with the court right up until the last minute, a judge was told today.

Barrister Paul McMorrow said Christopher Morgan had withdrawn a €60,000 damages claim only hours after having last night been given cctv footage of his alleged fall in Artane Spar, Dublin, in December 2017.

Mr McMorrow, who appeared with David Culleton of Mason Hayes and Curran Solicitors, told Judge Sarah Berkeley that closed circuit monitors revealed Morgan, of Captain's Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, had experienced merely "a moment of instability" when he had walked into the shop.

Judge Berkeley was told in the Circuit Civil Court that Morgan was withdrawing his claim and was offering to pay the legal costs of Nolagh Foods Limited, owner of Spar Artane, Malahide Road, Dublin. She made an order for costs against him.

“He has engaged in an expensive game of chicken with the court which amounts to an abuse of the court process,” Mr McMorrow told the judge.

"He has decided to withdraw this case after voluntarily receiving a copy of our cctv footage and our medical report from Mr Aidan Gleeson, both of which show that he could not possibly have sustained the alleged or any other injury in our shop," Mr McMorrow said.

Mr McMorrow said it had been stated in the shop owner’s defence document that Mr Morgan had encountered “a moment of instability and no more than that” when he walked on a wet patch of rainfall that had been dragged into the shop entrance on the feet and umbrellas of other customers. There had been heavy rainfall.

“He has not suffered any slip or fall on a wet floor at the entrance to the defendant’s premises as he has alleged and verified under oath,” counsel told the court.

The defence claimed there had been no wrongful danger in the state and condition of the shop floor. The defendant had taken such care as was reasonable in all of the circumstances.

Morgan alleged in his Civil Bill that he had suffered severe personal injuries as a result of negligence on the part of Nolagh Foods Limited. He claimed to have suffered pain and distress and that his social, domestic and recreational life had been disrupted.

When Morgan’s case was called for hearing before Judge Berkeley his legal team informed the court he was withdrawing his claim and offering to pay all of Spar Artane’s legal costs.