Smoker loses damages claim for fall from Cork hotel bedroom
Mr Justice Bernard Barton said Jason Platt had grossly exaggerated his disability since the fall six years ago so as to maximise his damages.
The Englishman will now face a hefty legal bill after costs were also awarded against him of the eight-day hearing in the High Court.
Mr Justice Barton said the intention of Mr Platt who had also lodged a £1.49m special damages claim was to mislead with the purpose of maximising his claim.
He had also claimed for aids including a powered wheelchair; a special scooter; a specially adapted car; a stair lift and the services of a gardener, cleaner, and skilled handy man.
Jason Platt from Liverpool had claimed he can not live independently following the accident when he fell seven metres onto a roof below and is housebound — but video footage filmed last year and earlier this year showed him leaving his house, shopping and driving his car.
He claimed he suffered the life-changing injuries and has to use a wheelchair and crutches after falling out the window of the Old Bank House, Kinsale as he attempted to flick ash from a cigarette.
He had travelled to Kinsale for a Valentine’s weekend break and he and his partner were staying at the Old Bank House, Pearse St, Kinsale when he claims the accident took place on February 15, 2009.
The hotel owners contended that Mr Platt threw himself from the window of his guestroom following a heated argument with fiancee. Mr Platt had sued OBH Luxury Accommodation Ltd with offices at Pearse St, Kinsale and company director Ciaran Fitzgerald.
Yesterday Mr Justice Bernard Barton dismissed the entirety of the action.
He concluded the double window which had a wide sill and which Mr Platt had used as a seat while smoking was unsafe and constituted a danger. Before dismissing the case he found the hotel would have been liable in relation to the fall and assessed contributory negligence on the part of Mr Platt as 40%.
However, the judge also found there ought to have been a safety bar or some such measure at the window.
The judge found as a fact that the surveillance evidence represented the truth of the matter — that Mr Platt was able to go about his daily business, “albeit with a prominent limp”. He said this was in stark contrast to what Mr Platt had told the experts who had examined him.
The judge said he was satisfied Mr Platt’s injuries did not result in the level of disability he had claimed.
The level of disability portrayed the judge said was “a gross exaggeration of the truth”.
Mr Justice Barton said he was satisfied Mr Platt knew the truth of the situation when he swore an affidavit as to his claim and disabilities earlier this year and it presented “a gross exaggeration with the intention to maximise the damages”.
The judge said the experts on both sides had based their reports on Mr Platt’s behaviour and accounts that he was virtually housebound and had to use a wheelchair and had done their best when presented with the video evidence.
The judge described Mr Platt’s evidence to the court as evasive and his answers were not honest, credible or reliable.
Mr Justice Barton also found it was improbable that Mr Platt intended to jump out the window and the nature of his injuries were consistent with an accidental fall.
The judge said Mr Platt had no clear recollection of what caused the fall, only he was smoking sitting at the window when he fell backwards and sideways. The judge said the loss of balance was likely caused by Mr Platt’s state of inebriation. But the judge said there ought to have been a safety bar or some such measure as a grown man had fallen through the window.
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