MRS BROWN'S BOY OH BOY Daughter of Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll is directed to pay €30,000 to motorbike courier whom she collided with at roundabout
Judge says Fiona O’Carroll’s jeep struck the rear side of Patrick Harrison’s moped and he was knocked off his bike. Actress is told to pay him €28,000 damages for personal injuries and an additional €2,000 for special damages
THE daughter of Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has been directed by a judge to pay €30,000 damages to a motorbike courier she collided with on a roundabout.
Fiona O’Carroll, of Hollystown Demense, Hollystown, Dublin 15, who has played a role in a number of her father’s world-famous shows, was driving her Santa Fe jeep on November 6, 2015 when the accident happened.
She said her six-week-old son was in the vehicle at the time but was unhurt.
Motorbike courier Patrick Harrison, who lives at The Cottages, Killeen Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, told the Circuit Civil Court he was injured in the collision at a major roundabout at Snugborough Road, Dublin, and taken to hospital by ambulance.
Judge Francis Comerford told barrister John Ferry there were very different versions of what happened at the roundabout given to the court by Ms O’Carroll and Mr Harrison but confusion of the facts was very often caused by such high stress incidents.
Judge Comerford said that, in reconstructing the accident from the evidence of both parties, he favoured the view that Ms O’Carroll’s jeep had struck the rear side of Mr Harrison’s moped knocking him off the bike.
He said Mr Harrison was already on the roundabout and would have had right of way prior to Ms O’Carroll joining the multi-road junction.
He could not see how the accident could have happened in accordance with either version presented to the court but he was not saying that either Mr Harrison or Ms O’Carroll had lied.
For whatever reason, perhaps because of some momentary lapse of attention by Ms O’Carroll, her jeep had struck the motorbike.
O’Carroll, who was also directed to pay the legal costs of the case, told the court she thought Mr Harrison was speeding and had cut across in front of her jeep.
She had gone to see if he was all right and he was holding his knee and saying he had a lot of jobs to do.
Harrison told his counsel Mr Ferry, who appeared with Anthony Joyce Solicitors, that his neck and right knee had been injured in the accident but following medication and physiotherapy they had cleared up within a year.
There were some ongoing symptoms with his knee.
He said he was on the roundabout when Ms O’Carroll’s jeep had rear ended him, sending him and his bike skidding along the roadway.
He told Mr Ferry that he was in the back of an ambulance when gardaí spoke to him.
They did not take a statement and had not taken any measurements or details of the roundabout.
Judge Comerford, awarding Mr Harrison €28,000 damages for personal injuries and an additional €2,000 for special damages, said he thought neither of the versions he had heard about what had happened were completely true.
He said he did not think Ms O’Carroll had lied but had given a true account of what she recalled had happened.
She had come into contact with Mr Harrison’s motorbike and he had come off it in what was a significant impact.
Barrister Shane English, who appeared with Hayes McGrath Solicitors, for Ms O’Carroll, was granted a stay on the court order to facilitate consideration of an appeal to the High Court.
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