Male stripper loses damages claim over rear-ending injury

A Chippendale-style male stripper who, a judge heard, had danced his way through more than three years of back pain, has lost a €60,000 damages claim arising out of what he claimed was a rear-ending collision.

Barrister Paul McMorrow, told the Circuit Civil Court on Tuesday that Nauris Zeps, of Phibblestown House, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, had misled the court as to his ability to perform on stage for hours at a time.

Mr McMorrow, who appeared with David Culleton of DAC Beachcroft solicitors for Liberty Insurance, had asked the court to dismiss Mr Zeps' claim under Section 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act which requires dismissal where a claimant knowingly gives false or misleading evidence.

Judge Mary O’Malley Costello said she accepted that Mr Zeps, when a 29-year-old student, had been rear-ended while driving his car at the back of Dublin Airport in July 2014. He had signed documents and given evidence that he had not intended to be misleading at the time.

However, he had come into court and had given evidence that he had been unable to find work for the past three-and-a-half years and had been unable to lift his baby or do anything strenuous around the house.

In the meantime, he had continued his strip-dancing career using the stage name Blade, as revealed in photographs and a video presented to the court and under cross-examination by Mr McMorrow, counsel for Liberty Insurance, had been given every opportunity to change his evidence.

"He never once took that opportunity and did not reveal his dancing activities until Facebook and still picture evidence was presented and he had to admit it in cross-examination," Judge O'Malley Costello said.

She said he had given entirely misleading evidence to the court and had fallen foul of Section 26 of the Act which required the dismissal of his case unless the court was of the view that to do so would lead to an injustice. He had misled the court in that he had claimed his injuries were a lot worse that it would appear they were.

Striking out his €60,000 claim and awarding legal costs against Mr Zeps, Judge O’Malley Costello said he had come to court and had been given every opportunity to deal with and clarify all matters and had chosen not to.

Mr McMorrow had told the court that Mr Zeps was Mr September in a calendar and had partaken in strenuous dancing activities while claiming he had been unable to find work during the past three-and-a-half years.

He asked the court to direct that a record of the evidence in the case could be used in a number of future claims that was expected to arise from the incident in which Mr Zeps was involved.

Judge O’Malley Costello said she felt unable to make an order regarding matters that had not arisen in the case before the court.