Judge dismisses accident claim

A court has heard that hospital records revealed a woman, who claimed she broke her ankle when she stepped into a hole on a footpath…

A court has heard that hospital records revealed a woman, who claimed she broke her ankle when she stepped into a hole on a footpath, had told doctors she had slipped on ice.

Ms Marian Bateman, of Kilcarrig Close, Fettercairn, Tallaght, Co Dublin, told Judge Elizabeth Dunne in the Dublin Circuit Civil Court that the accident happened at night while she was walking home.

She told Mr Colm P. Condon, counsel for South Dublin County Council, that when she attended hospital the following day it was found she had fractured her ankle.

When Mr Condon proved Meath Hospital admission records, which revealed Ms Bateman initially told doctors she had slipped on ice about midnight the previous night, Judge Dunne dismissed her claim for damages and awarded costs against her.