Doctor falsely denied he was responsible for accident involving schoolgirl, court said

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A doctor who drove his car at high speed to a red light, knocking down and catastrophically injuring a schoolgirl, blamed the teenager for the accident, the High Court has heard.

Slanderous allegations have been made and a ‘totally dishonest’ account given by doctor Shereen El Mashad following the crash, meaning the 14-year-old has been blamed for it for four years said Justice Leonie Reynolds.

Ashleigh Carroll, who suffered brain damage and sued Dr El Mashad in the High Court, also asked the court to award aggravated damages in the case.

Ms Carroll’s attorney, Richard Kean SC, appointed by Keira O’Reilly of Keans Solicitors, told the court he must show his revulsion at the behavior. The lawyer said the doctor was working at Beaumont Hospital at the time and was on his way there when the accident happened on the morning of October 20, 2016.

He said the doctor was not in court and had returned to his native Egypt. The doctor’s account of the Coolock crash in Dublin was “utterly dishonest”, he said, and if that defense had prevailed, Ms Carroll would not get compensation for her horrific injuries.

Mr Kean said an Irish arrest warrant existed for the doctor in connection with the accident.

The doctor’s insurers, Axa Insurance, had waited four years to admit liability “when they knew their client was on the run,” he said.

Ashleigh Carroll, now 19, of Glasnevin, Dublin, through her mother, Louise Carroll, sued the driver of the car, Dr El Mashad.

It is claimed the teenager was legally crossing a public footpath near Oscar Traynor Road, Coolock, and was crossing a roadway when a vehicle driven by the doctor, and in particular the exterior mirror, collided with Mrs. Carroll, causing her to spin, fell to the ground and hit her head.

Mr Kean said his liability was recognized in November last year and the doctor admits to driving recklessly, passing a red light, driving at high speed and driving in a reserved bus lane.

At the opening of the case, Mr Kean said Ms Carroll had flourished in school at the time of the accident. He said she had a penchant for studying and had hoped to study forensic anthropology at Harvard in addition to medicine.

He said she was in her second year of high school.

Referring to the defense filed by the doctor in the case, Mr Kean said he claimed Ms Carroll ran across the road, colliding with her car. The lawyer said the schoolgirl was walking.

The doctor also claimed that Ms Carroll had created public nuisance and danger by her actions and the manner in which she attempted to cross the road. The doctor said she hit the side of her car.

The lawyer said the doctor said in a statement to Gardaí that she was 100% sure she walked through the lights when they were amber in color and felt something hit her car.

The case before Madam Justice Reynolds continues on Friday.

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