Spare a thought for Jason Shelly who, due to his ill-judged decision to embellish his evidence, has had his claim for Compensation thrown out and an order for costs made against him.

Shelly brought Circuit Court personal injuries * proceedings claiming that he had continued to suffer intermittent lower back pain a year after he had been involved in a road traffic accident that occurred in April of 2014.

If the consequences of his stupidity and dishonesty weren’t so grave (the two main ones being a huge legal bill for the defence – which me may well not be able to pay – and the tarring of all personal injuries claimants with the same brush), you might almost feel sorry for Shelly.

In all likelihood, he probably did suffer some level of soft tissue injury which resulted in pain and discomfort for a while. Had he played it straight and honestly described his symptoms he would have been perfectly entitled to receive a compensation payment commensurate with the true extent of the injuries that he suffered.

However, he tried to convince the court that he was continuing to suffer significant back pain at the same time that he was crowing about his performance in cycling races on his own Facebook page between May and December 2014.

After cross-examining Shelly, the defence made an application to the court to dismiss his claim. Not surprisingly, this was readily acceded to.

The usual suspects in the media who are in the thrall of the insurance lobby will furiously attempt to spin this story in a way which suggests that there’s something inherently dishonest, shameful and socially irresponsible in bringing a compensation claim in any circumstances.

The hope is that, by engaging in this propaganda campaign, they will assist the Insurance Companies in suppressing entirely legitimate claims by generating a public mood of distaste for the so-called “compo culture” which, they’d have you believe (contrary to the empirical evidence), is the cause of spiraling insurance premiums which are crippling Irish business.

In reality, however, this is just another example of how dishonest people who try to play the system get caught out. When they do, they can look forward to receiving no compensation whatsoever and having to pay a whopping legal bill.

Even if they’ve entered into a no-win-no-fee agreement with their own lawyers, they face the prospect of having an order to pay the defendant’s costs made against them, as happened in this case. That means that they’ll find themselves footing the bill for the defendant’s solicitors, barristers and all expert witnesses called to give evidence.

In particularly egregious cases the matter may also be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide if a criminal prosecution is warranted.

So, despite the hysterical rantings of the insurance companies and their puppets in the media, most reasonable people will appreciate that while compensation fraud has and always will be with us, the judiciary is ever vigilant to it and, in appropriate circumstances, swingeing punishment will be meted out.

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