Green Party Senator settles case for driving BMW through red light into baby in a pram
Senator Vincent P Martin (pictured) was sued by Jana Novakova over physical and psychological injuries she received as a result of the accident.
A High Court action over an accident in which a car driven by Green Party Senator Vincent P Martin went through a red light and hit a pram with a baby in it has been settled.
The accident occurred four years before Mr Martin, a barrister and Green Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and Brexit, was nominated as a senator.
Mr Martin, Mullacash, North Naas, Co. Kildare, was sued by Jana Novakova (36), a mother of two formerly of Wyckham Point, Dundrum, Dublin, and now living in her native Slovakia, over physical and psychological injuries she received as a result of the accident.
The case was before the Circuit Court last February when the judge directed that because of the extent of Ms Novakova's claimed injuries and the limited €60,000 jurisdiction of that court, the matter should be referred to the High Court which has unlimited jurisdiction.
The case then came before the High Court on Friday when Patrick O'Connell SC, with Elaine Power BL, for Ms Novakova, told Ms Justice Carmel Stewart it was only a matter for the judge to assess damages as liability was admitted. After the case got underway, there were talks between the parties, and it was settled.
Earlier, counsel said the accident occurred on February 9, 2016, when Ms Novakova was crossing at a pedestrian crossing with the lights in her favour near her then home in Dundrum.
She was pushing a buggy with her two-month-old baby daughter in it with one hand and holding her two-year-old daughter with the other. Ms Novakova told the court she and her-two-year old were counting down the seconds until the lights changed in their favour before they started crossing.
Suddenly, she said, Mr Martin's BMW drove "very fast" through the red light hitting the pram and throwing the baby out of it.
"I just remember screaming on the whole street, not knowing if you were picking up your baby alive or not", she said.
She said she eventually picked the child up and, because she was wrapped in blankets, she said the child did not have bad injuries. However, she said, the baby was not making any sound.
"I shook her and I was shaking her and sat into the driver's car and she started to cry". She remembered someone brought her older daughter and put her sitting beside her.
Her husband, who worked nearby, arrived and took the toddler while she and the baby were taken by ambulance to Tallaght hospital. The baby, who had scratches on her head and leg, had been unconscious and was kept in hospital for three days, she said.
As a result of the car hitting the pram as she was holding it, the court heard Ms Novakova suffered injuries to her right arm and shoulder. It was also claimed she developed post-traumatic stress disorder and continued to suffer from it as a result.
She was on maternity leave as a sales supervisor with Microsoft when the accident happened and when she eventually returned to work, she found she could not concentrate or do her job as well as she had before. She suffered from flashbacks and nightmares about the incident and felt she was "going crazy".
While she loved Ireland, she said she had "lost my trust here and at home I felt more secure and that doctors could help me more than here even though I did not try psychiatry here".
She decided to return to Slovakia in May 2017 where she received treatment including for her psychological injuries, she said. The court heard that despite surgery, she continued to suffer pain. Following talks between the parties, the court was told the case had been settled and could be struck out.
Ms Justice Stewart wished Ms Novakova, who is expecting her third child, the best of luck and said it had "clearly been a difficult and traumatic few years". She wished her well with her pregnancy and a long and happy life.
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