A GREEN PARTY senator has settled a High Court action against him over an incident in which a car he was driving went through a red light and hit a pram being pushed by a mother-of-two, causing her two-month-old daughter to be thrown from her pram.
Vincent Martin, of Mullacash, North Naas, Co Kildare, settled the case for an undisclosed sum at the High Court today.
Liability was not at issue in the case, which came before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart for assessment of damages only.
The personal injury claim was heard earlier this year before the Circuit Court, where the maximum jurisdiction is €60,000. A judge gave permission for it to be transferred to the unlimited jurisdiction of the High Court.
Speaking in court today, Jana Novakova (36) told her counsel Patrick O’Connell SC that she still had nightmares and flashbacks about the incident and was still taking prescription medication as a result.
The incident occurred in February 2016 – four years before Martin became a senator. Jana Novakova was crossing the road in Dundrum, south Dublin pushing a pram containing her two-month-old daughter and holding the hand of her other young daughter.
Earlier this year the Circuit Court was told that a car was driven through the red light and collided with the pram, knocking it over and causing the two-month-old baby to be thrown onto the road.
At that hearing, before Judge John O’Connor, the court heard that cases involving Jana Novakova’s children had already been dealt with, but that Covid-19 had caused the significant delay in her own case.
The plaintiff suffered injuries to her right arm and shoulder, as well as psychological injuries as a result of the incident, Judge O’Connor heard.
She was subsequently diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and developed trouble sleeping.
‘Visions’
The woman, previously a resident of Dublin but now living in her home country of Slovakia, told the court today that she still had nightmares about the incident to this day.
“Many times I seen the guy in the car, I saw the scene over and over again in my dreams,” she said at today’s hearing.
She said she had experienced “visions” each time she had crossed the road where the incident occurred.
She also said she had had to leave her job as a result of the injuries she suffered which caused her to be “very slow” at performing certain tasks.
She returned to Slovakia with her husband and children in 2017.
“I loved Ireland but I lost the trust here. I felt like at home, I would feel more secure and doctors could help me much more than here,” she said.
She had had surgery on her shoulder in 2018 and underwent physiotherapy. She also attended a psychiatrist and was prescribed with antidepressant medication by a doctor. She continues to take medication, the court heard.
She said she “started to feel a little bit better and relieved from anxiety and panic attacks” when she began the medication, but said the nightmares and flashbacks continued.
“Even now I have dreams,” she said.
“I go out with my husband and I am trying to live a normal life, but this is how it is.”
Following a break in the hearing, the judge was informed that the defendant had chosen to settle the action.
Concluding proceedings, Ms Justice Stewart wished Jana Novakova well. “You have clearly been through something traumatic and difficult over the last number of years and I wish you and your husband well,” she said.
Contains reporting by Ray Managh
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