A 25-YEAR-OLD general operative has lost a €60,000 damages claim for personal injury in the Circuit Civil Court and was left facing a hefty legal bill after he was ‘betrayed’ by his Facebook page.

Jason Shelly had claimed that in April 2014, he had been a passenger in a car which collided with a vehicle driven by John Costello. He alleged he had still been suffering intermittent lower back pain a year after the accident.

The court heard that Shelly, of Abbey Park Grove, Clane, Co Kildare, attended the A&E department of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, two days after the accident, complaining of lower back pain, headaches, dizziness and difficulty sleeping.

Barrister Shane English, for defendant Costello, of Forest Gate, Woodbroock, Portalington, County Laois, told the court that Shelly had commented on his own Facebook page between May and December 2014 about his cycling performances.

Mr English yesterday told Judge Jacqueline Linnane during Shelly’s cross examination that the comments, since deleted, referred in particular to cycling races.

The court heard that on one occasion, Shelly commented about having cycled for more than four hours.

Following Shelly’s evidence, Mr English, who appeared with Robert Ó Geibheannaigh Bl and Cullen & O’Beirne solicitor, made an application to the court to dismiss the claim. Judge Linnane threw out Shelly’s claim and awarded legal costs against him.

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