Mother self-medicated on heroin for pain from accident with truck, court hears
A mother of five, who self-medicated on heroin as a painkiller, became addicted to the drug and had to undergo rehab treatment for almost a year before beating the habit, a judge was told today.
Judge Gerard Griffin, in assessing personal injury damages for 33-year-old Megan Creighton, who was injured in a traffic accident, said her heroin addiction could not be laid at the door of the defendant in the case.
“Clearly it was not medically advised and there cannot be any damages allowed in that regard,” Judge Griffin said.
Creighton, a single mother, of Pinewood Green Lawn, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, told the court she had been devastated as a result of the neck and back injuries she suffered in a collision with a 40-ton truck at Malahide Roundabout near the Pavilion Shopping Centre, Swords, in December 2016.
She sued Roskell Transport Limited, of Newcastle, Co Dublin, for damages of up to €60,000 for personal injuries arising from the collision and told barrister Philip Fennell, counsel for the defendant, that gel and anti-inflammatory medication prescribed by her doctor had not been helping her.
“I had got morphine-based tablets from a friend and later started using heroin,” she told Mr Fennell, who appeared with Hayley Tarmey of Ennis Solicitors for Roskell Transport and its driver Jacej Gorchel.
Ms Creighton said that from the opiates she obtained from a friend she had progressed to heroin and became addicted to the drug and had to go “into treatment” for 11 months. Her life had been devastated because of the pain she suffered as a result of the accident.
She told the court she suffered pain to her neck and back and at times was unable to lift her children. Her one-year-old child had been in the back of her car which had been dragged onto the roundabout after the truck had broken an amber light.
She remembered screaming and beeping her horn and alleged a company representative had accepted liability at the scene and had told her to get her car repaired and they would look after the bill. Afterwards they would not answer her calls.
Gorchel said in evidence that he had a green light at the controlled roundabout and in his rear mirror had seen Ms Creighton’s car drive towards his truck. He denied his lorry had dragged the car.
Judge Griffin said he had some personal experience of the roundabout concerned and had to decide the disputed case on the balance of what most likely had happened.
The court had no doubt the trailer of the truck was in Ms Creighton’s lane at the time of the collision and he found the transport company 100% liable.
He said Ms Creighton’s developing a heroin addiction could not be laid at the door of the defendant.
From medical reports he believed she had suffered minor injuries to her neck, shoulder and had low back difficulties and awarded her €8,000 damages with District Court costs.
