Gym owner appeals €8,250 damages award after suing over being trapped in lift

A Dublin gym owner who said he feared he might never fly again after being trapped in a lift but who told a judge he afterwards flew to Rome to propose to his partner, has rejected a court’s award of damages.
Robert Smith, of Johnstown Place, Johnstown Road, Cabinteely, Dublin, has appealed to the High Court the €8,250 award, with a limit on costs, made to him a fortnight ago by Judge Geoffrey Shannon in the Circuit Civil Court.
During an assessment of damages in a €60,000 claim, after the lift company had admitted fault, Judge Shannon heard claims by Mr Smith that he had developed a fear of confined spaces after being trapped in the lift and feared he might not be able to fly again.
The 39-year-old accepted under cross-examination by barrister Conor Duff, for Infinity Lifts, of Ennis, Co Clare, that he had posted pictures online of himself posing in a sauna and proposing to his partner at the Trevi Fountain after flying to Rome.
Judge Shannon heard Mr Smith had turned down a €15,000 offer from Infinity Lifts to settle his claim.
The judge said the court had to take into consideration the photographic evidence produced by Mr Duff. He had found Mr Smith to be a genuine witness but had difficulty in reconciling the photographic evidence with his alleged issue around claustrophobia.
Mr Smith claimed he could no longer tolerate confined spaces and had feared he would never be able to fly again after being trapped in the lift in June 2021 for an hour before a woman heard his cries for help.
Mr Duff told Judge Shannon that Mr Smith, only a few days after flying back from Rome, failed to tell a doctor at a medical consultation that he had flown. Counsel had asked Judge Shannon not to award any damages, or a very small figure.
Rejecting a suggestion by Mr Smith’s barrister that damages should range from between €15,000 to €40,000, Judge Shannon said he had to consider fairness and proportionality under the compensatory guidelines.