The day when people fall over on a footpath or road and run into court making a claim against their local authority are over, a Circuit Court judge warned a woman at Galway Circuit Civil Court yesterday.
Judge Harvey Kenny told Ms Brigid Teresa Ward, a mother of four, of Cloonan Park, Innishannagh Park, Galway, that her claim for damages against Galway City Corporation had been exaggerated and should never have come before the court.
Ms Ward sued her local council after she tripped and fell on the roadway over the broken-off bonnet of a vandalised car close to her home.
She told the court that she fell on her right wrist and was told in hospital that it was fractured. She wore a cast for six weeks and suffered discomfort for a year after the incident, which occurred on February 20th, 2001. It later transpired that her wrist had been sprained, not broken.
The court heard that Ms Ward had made two personal injuries claims in the past for other accidents and had been awarded compensation in both.
Ms Ward admitted yesterday that she was not looking where she was going when she tripped over the bonnet.
"It was your own fault. You weren't looking where you were going. The days are over when people fall on the road or footpath and run into court making a claim. Those days are gone," sa id Judge Kenny.
He dismissed the claim, awarding costs to the council.