A 33-year-old Dublin woman's evidence on oath was described by a judge yesterday as "so economical with the truth as to be embarrassing.". Mrs Jacqueline Farrelly, of Pinebrook Lawn, Clonsilla, Dublin, told Judge Liam Devally she took up horseriding three years ago as a hobby.
She had sued Ms Suzanne Archer Murphy, trading as Thornton Park Equestrian Centre, The Ward, Ashbourne, Dublin, for £30,000 damages for negligence.
Mrs Farrelly fell off a horse at the centre in 1994 and fractured one of her vertebrae.
She claimed to have been a complete novice, saying her only previous experience of horseriding was to have sat as a child on the back of an old plough-horse on her aunt's farm.
When Mr Alan Doherty, counsel for Ms Archer Murphy, produced a photograph of her sitting in full riding gear on a horse at a jump show months previous to seeking lessons at Thornton Park, she conceded being the rider.
Judge Devally said she had denied winning first place at the show at Pudden Hill Equestrian Centre after having completed two clear rounds over jumps.
He recalled that Ms Gania De Sousa Wearer, former manager of Pudden Hill, Garristown, Co Meath, told the court Mrs Farrelly had been her pupil for five months before joining Thornton Park for lessons. Judge Devally said Mrs Farrelly had embarrassed her legal representatives in court and dismissed her claim with costs to Ms Archer Murphy, against whom he could find no evidence of negligence.