Woman with conviction for falsely alleging sexual assault has personal injuries case thrown out of court
Throwing out riding instructor Denise Cribbin's €60,000 claim for injuries she allegedly suffered in a rear-ending traffic accident, Judge Terence O'Sullivan told her she just could not be trusted to tell the truth.
Defence barrister Shane English told Cribbin she had persistently lied under oath about a minimal impact accident on the M50 in 2018 and had failed to tell the judge about a previous accident in 2016 after which she had falsely accused a man, who had claimed damages against her, of causing the accident by sexually assaulting her.
Cribbin served six months of a 12 month sentence in prison.
READ MORE
'Her evidence has been absolutely filleted by Mr English in the course of his cross-examination and is not reliable,' Judge O'Sullivan said when dismissing her case and awarding costs against her in relation to the 2018 collision.
Cribbin was described as the manager of a leisure horse riding business at The Paddocks, Ballyedmonduff Road, Woodside, Sandyford, Dublin 18 and of Stepaside, Co Wicklow.
In March 2022 Cribbin, now aged 48, was jailed for a year by the Court of Appeal after the Director of Public Prosecutions had successfully claimed an earlier two-year wholly suspended sentence following her admission of having made a false sexual assault allegation against a passenger in her car was too light.
Both Cribben and the injured party had been occupants of the car which belonged to her and which she had been driving.
She had claimed in a statement to gardaí that the injured party, who successfully sued her for €35,000 damages, had caused the accident by sexually assaulting her in her car, an allegation gardaí later found to be false and to which Cribbin pleaded guilty when charged.
In today's case Cribbin had sued motorist Sharon McConnell, of Old Connell Weir, Co Kildare, and her insurers Allianz for €60,000 damages arising out of what was described as a minimal impact between their cars in traffic on the M50.
Cribbin claimed she had injured her left knee in the accident and had chipped two of her teeth when her face had struck the steering wheel.
Mr English, who appeared with Patrick Brady of Newman Solicitors, told Cribbin she had lied to the court about the accident and failed to produce any evidence of treatments for her alleged injuries.
Judge O'Sullivan said Ms Cribbin was not trustworthy and had not come before the court with a trustworthy reputation.
'I do not find it credible that the impact was such as to smash her face into the steering wheel and chip two of her teeth,' the judge said.
He said there had been no evidence of damage to either car and he was very unhappy with the case.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
Man fails to halt sister's damages claim against him over alleged rape and sexual abuse
A man has failed to prevent his sister bringing a civil action for damages over his alleged rape and sexual assault of her when she was between 11 and 13 years old. The woman alleges that assaults of her on some 120 occasions by her older brother more than 40 years ago stopped after her mother caught him abusing her in her bed. He was put out of their home for a time but, after her father pleaded for his return, he was allowed back and her mother would lock her into her bedroom when her brother was in the house, she claims. The woman also claimed she was sexually abused by two other men, one of whom has died. READ MORE After gardaí investigating complaints made by another person against the third man approached the woman, she made a formal complaint against that man in 2019 and he has been convicted. As a result of the alleged sexual abuse of her, the woman said she had started to abuse alcohol and other substances and her mental health deteriorated. In 2023, she initiated civil proceedings seeking damages for assault, including sexual assault, against her brother. In a pretrial application to the High Court, the man, who denies assaulting his sister, asked the court to strike out the case. He claimed delay of more than 40 years between the alleged assaults and the initiation of the civil action created a real risk of an unfair trial. Their parents and other family members who were potentially important witnesses had died and he did not have access to work and other records, he said. On behalf of the woman, it was argued there was no culpable delay. A consultant psychiatrist reported he was satisfied that, due to trauma as a result of sexual assaults suffered, she was impaired in her ability to make any formal complaint until 2019. In his recently published judgment, the High Court 's Mr Justice Anthony Barr noted the woman's side relied on a Court of Appeal decision earlier this year which appeared to mark 'a radical addition' to the principles applicable to cases such as this. Based on that decision, he said the present law appears to be that when a plaintiff can provide medical evidence that alleged sexual abuse impaired them formally complaining until a particular date, the period between the date of the alleged abuse and the first formal reporting of it will not be reckonable in any application to prevent a trial on lapse-of-time grounds. Because the woman alleged she was seriously sexually assaulted by three separate individuals in close temporal proximity, he could not find such impairment that she was under in making her complaint against her brother was due to his alleged wrongdoing alone. He therefore did not find her brother was responsible for the delay in instituting these proceedings. Equally, as there was medical evidence of impairment on her part, nor was there any culpable delay by her in instituting her proceedings. Having found the delay was not the fault of either side, he considered whether it created a real risk of an unfair trial. In his view, the loss of evidence which might have been given by deceased family members did not seriously prejudice the man's defence. Another family member was available to give evidence which could potentially be 'critical' and the man may seek discovery of his sister's medical records, including her counselling records, he said. Having concluded the man had not shown he could not get a fair hearing at the trial of the action, he dismissed his application to strike it out.
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
Student accommodation scams: ‘People try to get you to pay deposits for a viewing'
A limited supply of accommodation has left students working against the clock to find a place to live during their studies . Jamie McGinty (19), a second-year engineering student from Achill, Co Mayo, says his 'stress levels are through the roof' as he commits to 'a full-time thing checking groups and websites constantly' while working six or seven days a week to afford staying in Galway. In addition to facing a limited supply of expensive housing, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) this week warned students to be cautious of rental scams. Last year, An Garda Síochána reported that about one third of all accommodation fraud reports occur during August and September, with 34 per cent of victims aged under 25, and 66 per cent aged under 33. READ MORE McGinty has come across plenty of posts online which he believes to be scams: 'So many people are trying to get you to pay deposits or a booking fee for a viewing.' One red flag noted by Muriel Dolan, deputy director of financial education at the CCPC, is landlords claiming 'to be out of town or living abroad and cannot show the property in person'. Maria Balan (23) has just completed a four year art degree at IADT 'This one's quite common', says Maria Balan (23), who has just finished a four-year art degree at IADT. 'It's somebody who poses as a landlord from a different country, in the sense of like, 'Oh I live in London right now, so I cannot come down to see you for a viewing if you don't send me some money,'' says Balan. While Balan is aware that no reputable landlord 'will ask you for money before a viewing', she said it can be difficult to filter out scam advertisements, especially on Facebook and Gumtree. [ Where will vital student housing come from? Opens in new window ] Balan, who is from Romania, feels that her nationality has added to the difficulties of finding a place to live in Dublin. 'The moment that they [landlords] realise I'm from abroad, they would kind of, you know, shy away a little bit, and probably just not talk to me any more,' she says. During her third year of studying, Ms Balan paid €600 per month to live in a 'very small space' which housed three other people. Ronan Meleady (20), a law student at the University of Limerick, says some accommodation advertisements 'don't have any pictures' and don't offer viewings until a payment is given. Meleady, originally from Waterford, secured accommodation in Limerick through a family connection. He is beginning a mandatory placement for his degree in Cork in September and has found 'reasonable enough' digs in the city at €650 a month. [ Student housing investors 'spooked' by ghost of Zoom University Opens in new window ] 'Worst-case scenario, I could have commuted. It would have been quite difficult, but I could have done it. I'm not in the same scenario as someone who has no accommodation and desperately needs it,' he said. Ronan Meleady (20) studies Law at the University of Limerick He is concerned that the 'number of students going to college every year is increasing, and we're not really seeing an increase in the amount of student accommodation that's actually affordable for people, and that's actually accessible for people'. Commuting is not an option for Cora Howson (18) from Carrick-on-Shannon, who is going into the second year of an arts degree in Maynooth University this September. Her mother Rachel Howson says that because her daughter doesn't drive, 'It's not feasible for her to commute. She would be doing 12- to 14-hour days [by train] and wouldn't be able to put the focus on her studies.' The search for accommodation is 'absolutely just a nightmare' for the family. Cora is the first in the family to attend university and her mother says the family is having to navigate the market by themselves. Scams on Facebook are rampant, according to Howson: 'Every time I put up a new post on Facebook I get two comments with links. I wouldn't touch anything with a link. I would make sure I can have a viewing, and that deposits are only handed over after we've met the landlord. 'If we don't find something, we'll have to look at taking a year out.'
Irish Independent
17 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Tánaiste to meet with Ireland-India Council over ‘spate of horrific attacks'
Mr Harris is to meet with the Ireland-India Council on Monday after they requested an engagement about the number of assaults and threats against Indian citizens. The issue has been highlighted after an Indian man was the victim of an unprovoked attack in Tallaght, Dublin, last month. A silent vigil was held outside the Department of Justice by Friends of India in response. There's at least 80,000 people of Indian descent living here in Ireland, and I tell you, our health service would fall over if it wasn't for them, so many parts of our economy would Simon Harris, Tanaiste The Indian embassy in Dublin has also issued a warning that there has been 'an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently'. The embassy said it was in contact with Irish authorities about the matter. 'All Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially in odd hours,' it said. Mr Harris said he received a request from the Ireland-India Council about the issue. He said he was particularly concerned about the reported attack on a six-year-old girl in Waterford. 'I'm deeply concerned by what we've seen happen in the last number of weeks,' he said. 'The Indian community in Ireland have made and continue to make an incredible contribution to our economy, to our society, to life in this country. ADVERTISEMENT 'There's at least 80,000 people of Indian descent living here in Ireland, and I tell you, our health service would fall over if it wasn't for them, so many parts of our economy would. 'We have seen a spate of brutal, horrific attacks, and one in particular sticks in my mind – of that poor six-year-old girl and what she experienced in Waterford, I think, is something that would sicken all of us. 'This is a good country. This is a country of 'cead mile fáilte'. 'This is a country that recognises the incredible value that the Indian community have made. It's a country that abhors racism, and we must continue to call it out. 'I think one of the most concerning things we've seen is the very young age of those that have been involved in some of this racist activity. 'So, tomorrow, I'll take the opportunity to meet with the Indian community, to hear their views directly, and then to see what more government can do to help.'
