Judge dismisses €60,000 damages claim in ‘staged’ road accident – The Irish Times

A judge has told a 37-year-old manager at a Co Dublin fruit farm that he believes a rear-end collision he was involved in was staged.

Judge James McCourt threw out a €60,000 damages claim, saying Kamil Losik may not have belonged to the inner circle of people involved in the staging of accidents but knew or should have known the accident in which he claimed Being hurt was staged.

“There was an outer ring of people who knew each other, at least loosely, by their geographic location in north Co Dublin, or by their backgrounds or by their jobs,” Judge McCourt said in the Circuit Civil Court.

After Mr Losik’s lawsuit was dismissed, three other Polish men who were occupants of his car – Artur Kozlowski, Bartlomiej Wawrzyniak and Tomasz Szczepanski, all with addresses in Swords – withdrew their claims for damages totaling €180,000. Their cases have not been heard and no findings have been made against them, apart from having their cases withdrawn.

The four men had sued National Retrofit & Construction Services Limited of Laraghcon, Lucan, Co Dublin; one of his drivers at the time, Damien McEvoy, of Kilmore, Enfield, Co. Meath, and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland. The company claimed Mr McEvoy was not licensed to drive his van while he was doing a delivery job for a friend at the time of the accident.

Attorney Paul McMorrow, acting for the company and office with David Culleton of Mason Hayes and Curran Solicitors, successfully petitioned that Mr Losik’s passengers remain outside the court while his case is being heard. Judge McCourt ordered them to turn over their phones to their attorneys.

Mr McMorrow said Mr McEvoy did not choose to attend the case and was not represented. A defense had been filed on behalf of Zurich Insurance Plc, the van’s insurer, alleging that the accident was staged.

Mr Losik, from Cianlea, Swords, claimed the van struck his car at the Applewood Village Green roundabout in Broadmeadow, Swords in February 2017. The judge dismissed his claim, saying his historical memory was vague and that all secured approvals were slow in coming.

“It is my belief that (the accident) was staged and that Mr. Losik knew or should have known it was so,” Justice McCourt said in entering an order against Mr. Losik. “He’s an unreliable witness and I don’t believe him.”

When Mr McMorrow sought a costs order against Mr McEvoy, Judge McCourt said there was no reality in it.

“You’ve done a good job for your clients,” the judge said.