A man has been hit with a £10k bill after trying to sue a Welsh council for a "pothole fall". He claimed to be in "ten out of ten" pain as the result of a fall caused by a pothole in a road near his home.
However a court found he was "fundamentally dishonest" after he tried to sue Flintshire Council over the fall which happened in February 2021. Mike Farron has now been left with an eye-watering £10,000 bill to cover the council's legal costs for fighting the claim.
An investigation into the alleged incident revealed that he had given differing accounts about the fall in various documents relating to the injury claim. Farron claimed that his accident happened at 6pm but when he was examined by a medical expert, he told them the fall had happened at 10am, NorthWalesLive reports.
Despite claiming to be suffering from severe "ten out of ten" pain in his ankle as a result of the alleged fall, Farron did not seek medical treatment from either the hospital or his local doctor. He had sought treatment from his local doctor in the months following the alleged fall, but not once was an ankle injury mentioned according to medical records.
Flintshire Council admitted fault for the pothole in the road surface but did not accept that this had caused the pedestrian to fall. They denied the claim for compensation and asked Mr Farron to prove that the accident occurred as alleged - or at all - before considering any further action.
Not content with that response, Mr Farron then launched legal proceedings against Flintshire Council and attempted to sue the authority over the alleged incident. The council instructed solicitors to defend the claim and they presented the court with details that contradicted the "evidence" put forward by Mr Farron via his representatives.
The matter was due to be heard at trial in January 2023 but three days before the case was due in court, Farron withdrew his claim without any explanation. The council had been put to the expense of defending a claim which they considered to be fabricated.
Not content to leave matters there, officials applied to the court on behalf of Flintshire Council for an order that Farron reimburse their legal expenses. District Judge Roberts at that hearing found that the claim was "fundamentally dishonest".
Flintshire County Council is set to recoup all of their legal costs which they had incurred in defending the personal injury claim after the presiding judge ordered Farron to pay the local authority's legal costs amounting to £10,000. After the hearing, a Flintshire Council spokesperson said: "This result indicates to everyone that the council, its insurers and legal representatives will not tolerate any attempt to dishonestly claim public monies."
