€130,000 awarded to mother of man who was struck by car in Tallaght

High Court Reporters

The High Court has awarded €130,000 in damages to the mother of a Dublin man who died after being struck by a vehicle eight years ago.

Stephen Lynch, from Tallaght, was hit by a silver Ford Focus at Brookwood Close in the Dublin suburb on April 13th, 2017, and pronounced dead at the scene.

No one has ever been charged over the 31-year-old’s death, and the case remains a live criminal investigation. A jury at an inquest into Lynch’s death last year returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

Arising from the incident, Lynch’s mother, Vera Lynch (57), brought civil proceedings against the owner of the Ford Focus, Otis Reynolds, and his brother Dean Reynolds, who had taken out a temporary insurance policy on the car with Axa Insurance.

Her case against Axa and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), which compensates victims of uninsured or untraced drivers.

In a recently published judgment, Mr Justice Tony O’Connor said Ms Lynch should be awarded €130,000 in general damages, noting her continued suffering with severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Judgment had already been granted against both Reynolds brothers in favour of Ms Lynch, in January 2022, after neither defended the action.

The case against Axa and MIBI proceeded to trial.

A dispute arose between Axa and the MIBI over who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, as this had a bearing on who was liable to discharge damages awarded to Ms Lynch by the court.

Axa and the MIBI denied liability. Axa said an official Garda report said the driver was “not known” and fled the scene of the incident with a passenger.

The MIBI said the driver was covered by an insurance policy and was not untraced or unidentified.

In his recent decision, Mr Justice O’Connor found that, on the balance of probabilities, Dean Reynolds was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the fatal incident.

At the trial hearing, Dean and Otis Reynolds, both of Windmill Road, Crumlin, Dublin, were both subpoenaed and appeared in court.

The court informed them they could refuse to answer questions that could be incriminating.

Mr Justice O’Connor said Dean Reynolds largely refused to answer questions put to him in the witness box, including in relation to his insuring of the Ford Focus and whether he was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Otis Reynolds also refused to answer questions, including a request to identify the driver of the vehicle on the date of the incident.

Outlining his reasoning for finding Dean Reynolds was likely the driver at the time, the judge said he was the only one insured to drive the car on the date in question.

Mr Justice O’Connor said Otis Reynolds was “aware of the consequences of being caught driving the vehicle without insurance”.

He said the court has “discounted any lingering suggestion that the vehicle was stolen”.

The judge noted that Dean Reynolds refused to answer basic question about whether he was driving the car on the day of the incident.

Mr Justice O’Connor said he would list the case for later this month before making final orders.