An FCA soldier who was injured when a jeep drove over his legs while he was employed as an extra on the Stephen Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan in Curracloe nearly two years ago was awarded £10,000 at Wexford Circuit Court yesterday.
Mr Graham Smith (20), of Leixlip, Co Kildare, was lying on a grassy area near the beach during a break in filming on July 8th, 1997, when a jeep drove over him.
He told Judge Olive Buttimer in the Circuit Court that he and a group of fellow soldiers were sleeping at the time. He woke up when he heard his colleague shouting a warning and realised a jeep had run over the corporal lying beside him.
After driving over the first soldier, the vehicle then came to a stop on his legs. He suffered severe bruising and had to use crutches for about six weeks after the accident.
An apprentice electrician, he gave evidence that he still suffered from pain in his legs when climbing ladders and scaffolding or taking part in FCA manoeuvres and experienced soreness while cycling or playing football.
Saying she accepted the young man's evidence, Judge Buttimer awarded him personal damages of £10,000 against Tristway Ltd of Ballineskar House, Curracloe, and Dalran Ltd, t/a Ryan Productions of 2 Harbourmaster Place, Custom House Dock, Dublin 1.