Woman who lied about involvement in rear-ending has injuries claim awarded against her after Facebook photos shown to court

 • Yesterday 16:32

Apersonal injuries award for damages has been made by a judge against a woman who claimed she had not been involved in any rear-ending accident.

Daniela Tsvetkova had told the circuit civil court that her hair had in fact been blonde on the day she was alleged to have bumped into the rear of the car.

However, a legal team for the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland subsequently produced Facebook photos of Ms Tsvetkova, revealing she had dark hair around the time of the accident.

Judge James McCourt said it would be almost tantamount to the odds of winning the lotto for the injured party to have got so much right about the car and driver she said had driven into her.

The court heard how Lorraine Dempsey, an environmental health officer from Whitehall in Dublin, was able to provide the car registration, its size and the hair colour of the driver she claimed had rear-ended her. She also recalled the fact that they were both were insured by Axa.

The judge said it was inconceivable that Ms Dempsey could have automatically picked a licence plate number after the offending driver had moved off along a bus lane without stopping to exchange details following the accident.

He told counsel for Ms Dempsey, Dermot Francis Sheehan, that he was satisfied the accident had happened as described by her.

Ms Dempsey had sued Ms Tsvetkova, the driver and her husband, who owned the car, as well as the Motor Insurance Bureau.

He awarded Ms Dempsey just over €15,000 damages against Tsvetkova and said she had been quick thinking in noting the number of Ms Tsvetkova’s vehicle and other details as she had driven past her.

Judge McCourt said Ms Dempsey had not made a major issue out of her injuries and had self-medicated and attended her GP following the accident.

Ms Tsvetkova, of St Margaret’s Road, Finglas, in Dublin, when cross-examined by barrister Adrianne Fields for the Motor Insurance Bureau, said she had used the Swords road each morning to leave her child to school and return before leaving for work.

She said she had not been involved in any accident on the day Ms Dempsey had claimed and that she must be mistaken.

When Ms Fields, appearing with Stephen Mackenzie Solicitors, produced a file of Facebook photos of Ms Tsvetkova with dark hair, and not blonde as she had claimed, Ms Tsvetkova said she had highlights to her hair.

The court heard that Ken McKinley of the Motor Insurance Bureau had traced the Facebook photos shown to the court and was in court to give evidence about his investigation.