A motorcyclist who was severely injured in a crash has lost a £6.4 million compensation claim after a photograph appeared to show that he had taken part in the dangerous sport of base jumping only four years later.
Lawyers said that it was the biggest claim for compensation dismissed by an English court after a finding that ruled the claimant had been “fundamentally dishonest”.
The claim was brought by Matthew Shaw, who was 26 in 2018 when he suffered serious injuries to all four of his limbs after being hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in Stockport, Greater Manchester. His injuries were so severe he had to undergo 23 surgical procedures.
The woman who was driving the car admitted liability and her insurance company, Hastings, had made interim payments of £50,000 and £100,000 by 2020.
At the time, the motorist and her insurers raised the possibility of contributory negligence on Shaw’s part, but that was rejected by a judge. However, the insurers then argued that Shaw had lied about elements of his claim.
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Investigators for the insurance company produced surveillance evidence that showed Shaw, who had said that he could walk no more than 200 yards without the use of a stick, was in fact able to walk five times that far unaided.
Investigators also produced evidence showing that Shaw had performed a base jump — leaping from a significant fixed height before parachuting to the ground — at Monte Brento in Italy, a spot well known for the sport, in 2022.
A photograph was used as evidence during the hearing that showed Shaw at the base-jump landing zone. The court accepted that he would have had to have walked for a long distance to reach the jumping-off point.
The judge rejected Shaw’s explanation that he was only carrying the jumping gear for a friend. In his ruling, Judge Craig Sephton KC, sitting as a High Court judge, said that Shaw had “lied to the experts and to the court about the extent of his disabilities”.
He added that Shaw had been “made aware of the potential consequences of presenting a dishonest claim” and that “despite this he did not admit that he had lied. On the contrary, he continued to lie. He was unrepentant.”
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Summarising his findings, the judge said that he concluded “with regret” that Shaw “advanced a case that his mobility and function were severely compromised when he knew that his mobility and function were not nearly so severely affected as he made out. He then gave explanations and excuses which he knew to be untrue.”
