A €60,000 damages claim by a security officer at Dublin Airport, who was alleged to have taken part in a road race only weeks after suffering a knee injury, has been described by a judge as outrageous.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that this case has come to court with the view of maximising her claim for damages,” Judge John Martin said in the Circuit Civil Court.
He said Latvian national Olga Dresmane, of Water Rill, Malahide, Co Dublin, had set out to deceive every medical expert with the sole intention of increasing her damages award.
“That is not permitted by law and what Ms Dresmane has done is outrageous,” Judge Martin said as he threw out the proceedings and ordered her to pay the costs of the case.
Defence barrister Padraic Hogan said Dresmane’s name had appeared on a list of runners participating in a 10k mini marathon 11 weeks after her accident at the airport. She claimed not to have run in it.
Shortly afterwards she had been photographed in an 8k road race in Clontarf, Dublin.
Mini marathon
When Judge Martin handed her a laptop with a zoomed-in picture of a woman kitted out for racing he asked her: “Is that you?”
Having examined the photo she said: “Mmmm Maybe.” She denied having participated in a 10k mini marathon in the Phoenix Park, but said she had attended with her 12-year-old daughter and had walked a circuit with her.
Mr Hogan, who appeared with MacDara Norris of Beachcroft Solicitors, told the court Dresmane (49) who had been out of work for two years, had deliberately misled the court in relation to the extent of her injuries.
Judge Martin heard that Ms Dresmane, who was responsible for X-raying luggage at security points in the airport, had injured her left knee when a piece of carry-on luggage had been accidentally dropped by one of her colleagues.
In his judgment he said Ms Dresmane’s employer, ICTS Ireland Limited, had conceded liability for her injury and the court had been asked to assess what damages were due to her.
“An unusual feature of this case is that every single doctor involved had a difficulty understanding the length of time her injury had persisted,” he said.
Judge Martin said the fact that doctors had difficulty understanding her ongoing pain four years after the incident in April 2018 had raised a red flag to the court.
“And if that red flag wasn’t flying high enough I’m then presented with evidence of her part in sporting activity following her accident,” he said.
Dismissing her case the judge said it was a matter for the defendant ICTS, (International Consultants on Targeted Security with operational centres at Cork, Shannon and Dublin airports) to decide if there should be a follow-up to his ruling on evidence presented to the court.
