Sleepwalker Gets €10m award

starbelgrade

Louth sleep walker begins libel action

A Co Louth businessman who sleepwalked naked to the bedroom of a company secretary while on a business trip to Mozambique has begun a libel action against the mining company Kenmare Resources.

Donal Kinsella claims that a press release issued by the company in 2007 made him a 'national and international laughing stock' and insinuated that he was guilty of sexual impropriety.

An investigation initiated by the company cleared him of any wrong doing.

The 67-year-old from Dunleer, Co Louth, apologised to secretary Deirdre Corcoran after appearing three times at her bedroom door during the night while on a business trip to Mozambique in May 2007.

He had been drinking and taking pain killers and had a habit of sleep walking and not wearing pyjamas, the court heard.

Mr Kinsella was later removed as chairman of the audit committee and as a director of the company.

The case continues tomorrow.

Full Article; http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1109/kinsellad.html

Pherekydes

Now I know why the wife gives me whiskey with my solpadiene. :pac:

syklops

Pherekydes wrote: »

Now I know why the wife gives me whiskey with my solpadiene. :pac:

Now I know why mine doesn't.

bonerm

Kinsella and Prendeville should get together and start a support group. Call it "sleep wa*kers anonymous" or something.

orourkeda

I'm going on a painkiller and pints binge.

Hopefully some hilarity will ensue.

Procasinator

Good reason to wear pyjamas.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Sleep walking's a pretty frightening idea. I've kicked the **** out of midgets in dreams.

Read in the PI forum before some guy starts coming onto his girlfriend in his sleep. So if the kids want to sleep in parents bed after a bad dream etc he has to sleep downstairs.

On the other hand ''Sorry I jizzed on your face.... I was sleepwalking boss!''

mike65

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Sleep walking's a pretty frightening idea.

Bumps in the Night

My name is URL

Yer man was just awarded €10,000,000 in damages. Biggest libel award in Irish history

Tomohawk

Unbelieveable stuff from the Irish Courts - That payout will keep him in booze and pills for a while though...

mike65

That will be appealed. It'll have to be.























Until then I'm booking a hotal room and shall go for a stroll Commando style.

Kristopherus

Sleepwalker Donal Kinsella gets €10 MILLION award. www.rte.ie/news. What yous think?

biko

A Co Louth businessman who took a libel action against his former employers after an incident in which he sleep walked naked has been awarded €10m in damages.

The jury agreed that a press release sent out by mining company Kenmare Resources in July 2007 insinuated that Donal Kinsella had made inappropriate sexual advances to company secretary Deirdre Corcoran on a business trip in Mozambique in May that year.
The award is the highest award of damages for defamation in the history of the State.
It is more than five times the €1.87m awarded to communications consultant Monica Leech in June 2009.
Lawyers for Kenmare Mining Resources were granted a stay on the award pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Mr Justice Eamon De Valera put a stay on the award with the exception of €500,000.

Senior Counsel Bill Shipsey said the award was 'off the Richter scale' and it was inconceivable that it would not be set aside by the Supreme Court.
Lawyers for Mr Kinsella told the jury today that the press release would mean to an ordinary person that 'something juicy' was going on in the jungle and that Mr Kinsella had tried to 'jump the company secretary'.
In May 2007, the 67-year-old from Dunleer was on a business trip in Mozambique.
He appeared naked three times at the bedroom door of Ms Corcoran during the night.
The court heard that he had been drinking and taking painkillers and had a habit of sleep walking and not wearing pyjamas.
Ms Corcoran later complained and an investigation was carried out by a solicitor who found that Mr Kinsella was simply sleep walking.
After an inquiry from the editor of the Irish Daily Mirror, John Kierans, the company issued a press release in July 2007. Mr Kinsella said the press release defamed him.

Lawyers for the company told the jury today that it had tried to sort out the problem amicably.
Mr Kinsella had been asked to step aside as the chairman of the company's audit committee so that Ms Corcoran would not have to have one-to-one contact with him.
But Senior Counsel Oisín Quinn said Mr Kinsella could not understand another person's point of view.
Mr Quinn said there was no malice in the press release that had been issued.

He said the company behaved properly in difficult circumstances that were not of its own making.
Lawyers for Mr Kinsella urged the jury to award his client big damages and said the company had aggravated matters by accusing Mr Kinsella of being a liar and a perjurer.
The 2009 Defamation Act allows the Supreme Court on the hearing of an appeal from a decision of the High Court to substitute an amount of damages it considers appropriate.
However, this case was taken before the new act came into force.

.

karlog

Public exposure pays.

Nodin

Kristopherus wrote: »

Sleepwalker Donal Kinsella gets €10award. www.rte.ie/news. What yous think?

I think I'd have to read the original press release before commenting. As regards the 10mill, its excessive.

bonerm

/drops trou.

Nodin

bonerm wrote: »

/drops trou.

/shouts 'Get them on ye'

CliffHuxtabel

Guys what would the following suggest to you?:

Donal, sleep walking and bo**ck-naked

msg11

CliffHuxtabel wrote: »

Guys what would the following suggest to you?:

Donal, sleep walking and bo**ck-naked

Legend

MagicMarker

What an idiot. You'd think if he has a tendency to sleepwalk he'd wear some fúcking pajamas or something, even if just for the hotel.

PeterIanStaker

*Whips it out, waits for someone to give €10m*

Fart

Eamon DeValera is alive?

starbelgrade

He was drinking & taking painkillers on the night in question.

I wonder how much Neil Prendergast is planning on claiming for after seeing that?

almostnever

Damages paid in these cases are determined by a jury, so they're famously excessive. You could be rendered blind and deaf and entirely limbless in an accident and not recoup near that amount.

Sprouts

Maybe we can get Cowan to walk into Merkels room in the nip a few times to sort our debts out?

Pembily

It's a total and utter disgrace!!! Once is a mistake but 3 times - there is something off there!!!

10m is BEYOND EXCESSIVE - it's just disgusting!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Gunsfortoys

MagicMarker wrote: »

What an idiot. You'd think if he has a tendency to sleepwalk he'd wear some fúcking pajamas or something, even if just for the hotel.

He just scammed 10 million for sleepwalking. The man is no idiot.

starbelgrade

almostnever wrote: »

Damages paid in these cases are determined by a jury, so they're famously excessive. You could be rendered blind and deaf and entirely limbless in an accident and not recoup near that amount.

If you were blind, deaf & limbless, how would you know how much you were awarded?

Genuine question.

CliffHuxtabel

starbelgrade wrote: »

If you were blind, deaf & limbless, how would you know how much you were awarded?

Genuine question.

Anne Sullivan Foundation

PanchoVilla

" I swear your honor, I didn't mean to jump into that young girl's bed...I was sleepwalking."

I'll have to remember that one next time I'm staying in a hotel.

almostnever

starbelgrade wrote: »

If you were blind, deaf & limbless, how would you know how much you were awarded?

Genuine question.

Well you might not know but it's not announced in secret to only the plaintiff. So other people in the court, for example relatives, friends and probably most importantly counsel would know. And in those cases, the damages tend to be rather specific; loss of future earnings, medical expenses, etc. So it'd be pretty much irrelevant how much you get as long as that stuff was covered. Anyway, this is purely hypothetical; it's just an example I used to show the vast difference between the compensation for personal injuries and for defamation.

Kristopherus

PanchoVilla wrote: »

" I swear your honor, I didn't mean to jump into that young girl's bed...I was sleepwalking."

I'll have to remember that one next time I'm staying in a hotel.

Young girl me ass. She was/is the Company Secretary & Financial Controller. I don't know any who are young. The woman is in her 40s.

TheUsual

I predict a lot of similar sleep-walking at the Christmas parties in hotels around Ireland this year.
What is the current trend for people taking painkillers and booze ?? Any painkillers I had to take said "do not take with alcohol" on the back of them. Maybe I am missing something.

baldbear

Is this the same Donal Kinsella? http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ff-developer-hits-a-9m-jackpot-as-land-rezoned-205216.html

Alwayson

"Naked, sleepwalking man under the influence gets €10m." I have often been under the influence and never walked naked into a female colleague's room whether awake or not. The explanation is completely unbelievable. The country's supposed to be broke so who's going to foot the €10m bill? Just what we need - another Paddy the Irishman joke for the international media.

Brendog

TD's are even disgusted by that!

Diabhal Beag

Ireland's desperate need for more pornography is at an all-time high

almostnever

Alwayson wrote: »

"Naked, sleepwalking man under the influence gets €10m." I have often been under the influence and never walked naked into a female colleague's room whether awake or not. The explanation is completely unbelievable. The country's supposed to be broke so who's going to foot the €10m bill? Just what we need - another Paddy the Irishman joke for the international media.

Damages are paid by the losing defendant, not the State.

My name is URL

almostnever wrote: »

Damages paid in these cases are determined by a jury, so they're famously excessive. You could be rendered blind and deaf and entirely limbless in an accident and not recoup near that amount.

Do the jury really decide on the amount of damages to be paid? I thought they only decide on whether or not the claim for damages is justified..

10 million is a mad amount anyway.. regardless of who decided it was warranted. I can't see the supreme court upholding it

ninjasurfer1

TheUsual wrote: »

an investigation was carried out by a solicitor who found that Mr Kinsella was simply sleep walking.

How would a solicitor (or doctor) be able to prove that he was simply sleep walking...3 times on the same night!!!

He appeared naked three times at the bedroom door of Ms Corcoran during the night.

Did she not have her bedroom door closed? Did he knock on the door while asleep?

krudler

Nudey Donal Kinsella!

almostnever

My name is URL wrote: »

Do the jury really decide on the amount of damages to be paid? I thought they only decide on whether or not the claim for damages is justified..

10 million is a mad amount anyway.. regardless of who decided it was warranted. I can't see the supreme court upholding it

In the limited types of civil actions where there are juries, yep. Damages are seen as a question of fact for determination by the jury, rather than a question of law for determination by the judge. But like I said, only really in defamation, not the other civil torts like negligence or whatever.

baldbear

He should of teabagged your woman too while he was it and played the sleepwalking card.

dxhound2005

Senior Counsel Bill Shipsey said the award was 'off the Richter scale' and it was inconceivable that it would not be set aside by the Supreme Court.

Another bumper payout day for our Learned Friends as well.

Slogger Jogger

Totally bizarre award. No wonder Ireland is in the state its in.

x in the city

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Totally bizarre award. No wonder Ireland is in the state its in.

Ireland is totally goosed

just

L O L

10million,

erm

LOL

PanchoVilla

baldbear wrote: »

Is this the same Donal Kinsella? http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ff-developer-hits-a-9m-jackpot-as-land-rezoned-205216.html

Yeah, it seems to be the same fella. FF up to their usual disgraceful antics again. I hope whoever forms the next government bans FF altogether, they're nothing but a bunch of crooks.

cc-offe

But I don't understand what they €10 million is actually for????

thankswhore

so i guess we should all take off our clothes and go prowling around the workplace naked, because that's what the guy in the op did and he got €10million euros!!! Who's with me guys??

Balfie

Kristopherus wrote: »

Sleepwalker Donal Kinsella gets €10award. www.rte.ie/news. What yous think?

€10? is that all? whats all this fuss about then???? :rolleyes:

Alwayson

Companies have indemnity insurance against these things, so ultimately the public pays in higher insurance premiums.