Doctor was ‘utterly dishonest’ when recalling details of road accident that left teenage girl brain damaged, court hears

Ashleigh Carroll (left) outside the High Court, Dublin, with her mother Louise Carroll. Ashleigh suffered brain damage after she was hit by a car five years ago. Photo: Collins Courts

Tim Healy

December 02 2021 06:55 PM

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A DOCTOR who drove her car through a red light, knocking down and catastrophically injuring a schoolgirl, blamed the teenager for the accident, the High Court has heard.

Allegations were made and an “utterly dishonest” account was given by the driver of the car after the accident. This meant the 14-year-old was blamed for the next four years, Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds was told.

As a result, Ashleigh Carroll, who has been left brain damaged and who has sued Dr Shereen El Mashad in the High Court, has also asked the court to award aggravated damages in the case.

Ms Carroll’s counsel, Richard Kean SC, instructed by Keira O’Reilly of Keans Solicitors, told the court it has to mark its revulsion at the behaviour.

Counsel said Dr El Mashad worked at Beaumont Hospital at the time. She was on her way to the hospital when the accident happened on the morning of October 20, 2016.

Mr Kean said the doctor was not in court and had gone back to her native Egypt. The doctor’s account of the accident in Coolock, Dublin was “utterly dishonest “ and if this defence had prevailed Ms Carroll would not get compensation for her horrific injuries, he said.

Mr Kean said an Irish arrest warrant exists for the doctor in relation to the accident.

The doctor’s insurers, Axa, counsel said, had waited for four years to admit liability “when they knew their client was on the run”.

It is claimed that Ashleigh Carroll was lawfully traversing a public footpath near Oscar Traynor Road when a vehicle driven by the doctor, and in particular the wing mirror, collided with the teenager. This caused her to spin, fall to the ground and hit her head.

Liability was admitted in November last year and the doctor admits reckless driving, going through a red light, driving at speed and driving in a bus lane.

At the opening of the case, Mr Kean said Ms Carroll had been thriving at school and was academically inclined. She was hoping to study forensic anthropology in Harvard along with medicine.

He said she was in second year at secondary school and was also studying Japanese.

Mr Kean, referring to the defence filed by the doctor, said it claimed Ms Carroll ran across the road, colliding with her car. Counsel added that the schoolgirl had, in fact, been walking.

The doctor also claimed Ms Carroll had created a public nuisance and hazard by her actions and the manner in which she attempted to cross the road. She further claimed that Ms Carroll had allegedly run into the side of her car.

The case continues.

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