Plumber gave false evidence over loss of earnings: judge

TRANSCRIPTS of a compensation case should be sent to the DPP, a judge said yesterday after he found a plumber had given false evidence in his claim for loss of earnings.

Mr Justice John Quirke said he was making no recommendation about what should be done by the DPP in the case of Leo McKenna, following an inquiry by the High Court yesterday into the allegations of false evidence.

However, he had “no option” but to say the transcripts of evidence in the case should be sent to the DPP “for his information”.

Mr McKenna had denied his evidence was false.

Mr McKenna, 43, of Tullyhall Drive, Lucan, Dublin, had claimed he could not work for almost nine-and-a-half years because of an injury to his knee after he allegedly fell from a ladder on a building site in September 2001.

He sued his employer Paddy Dormer, trading as Paddy Dormer Services, Churchtown, Dublin, for damages as well as loss of earnings for most of that period.

However, the court heard earlier this month that Mr McKenna had been working for Mr Dormer for almost the entirety of that period, having insisted shortly after the accident that he be paid in cash from then on.

As his case was about to get under way on February 24 last, Mr McKenna approached Mr Dormer in the Four Courts and told him (Dormer) “to say you have not seen me for the last nine-and-a-half years” — even though he was working for the Dormer firm almost continuously during that same period, the court also heard.

Mr Justice Quirke refused to allow Mr McKenna to abandon his compensation claim after his counsel said he was offering to pay the costs of both sides and this would mean he would suffer a penalty. He dismissed the claim and awarded costs against Mr McKenna.

The judge said he wanted to proceed with the inquiry into whether he gave false evidence in the interests of the witnesses and of the wider community.