A woman who suffered brain damage after falling off a pier has said she can’t ‘show her face’ after her claims were dismissed by a judge who called her a liar.
Kirsty Williams-Henry, 33, fell from Aberavon pier in July 2018 and suffered skull and bone fractures, and a brain injury which put her in intensive care for eight days, she says.
In 2021, she sued the pier’s owner, Associated British Port Holdings Ltd (ABP), for damages totalling a reported £2.3 million, but the company argued the claim should be dismissed as she had been dishonest.
The judge agreed – saying he would have awarded Kirsty nearly £600,000 in damages for ‘genuine’ injuries – but dismissed the claim because she was a ‘regular liar’.
The judge said her genuine injuries included a moderately severe brain injury from her fall.
Kirsty, from Port Talbot, who used to work as a senior technical business analyst, said says she’s been left a shell of her former self.
Speaking for the first time, she said: ‘It’s like I’m a criminal – I can’t show my face. I’m so embarrassed. It’s made me out to be the bad guy.
‘My biggest issue is that integrity is so important to me. I promise everyone there is nothing we have done that is a lie or exaggeration.
‘They are making me out to be this vile council estate girl chasing compo but all I wanted was a year of rehab. People can look at me and I look normal, but I am constantly fighting every day.
‘I died on that pier – all I’ve done since then is live with who I was before the accident – what I am now doesn’t compare. To have them accuse me of it all being a lie is horrific.’
The judge said Kirsty had been drinking when she visited the pier with her family after reports bioluminescent plankton had been spotted in the sea.
While returning to the shore, she fell between four and five metres onto rocks and sand, with no safety barriers along the pier, it was reported.
In 2021, she sued the pier’s owner, ABP, for damages totalling £2.3 million, with liability settling two-thirds in her favour.
The firm said while it believed she was only entitled to around £370,000, her claim should be dismissed because she hadn’t told the truth about how badly she was affected.
A trial was held earlier this year, and Kirsty told the court she had not received proper rehabilitation since the incident.
But High Court judge Mr Justice Ritchie said that ‘overall’ he found Ms Williams-Henry was ‘dishonest and manipulative’ in a 99-page ruling.
The ruling said she had made ‘substantial exaggerations and some lies’ and found she had lied on insurance and benefit forms.
But Kirsty disagrees and she claims she handed over WhatsApp and social media accounts ahead of the hearing because she had ‘nothing to hide’.
Kirsty added: ‘I had one drink hours earlier that afternoon and wasn’t tested for alcohol at the time of the accident. I’m missing my entire frontal lobe.
‘I sound clever and like I haven’t lost intelligence but the problems I have are so debilitating and invisible. I am literally a shell of who I was.
‘I feel like a giant toddler. I struggle with simple things like getting up and getting dressed, brushing my teeth and coming downstairs to feed the dogs.
‘I have to have reminders everywhere because I’d forget otherwise – my short-term memory is screwed. I’m not going to get better without a rehab team but now they’ve painted me as a liar to everyone I can’t access that.’
An ABP spokesperson, said: ‘Whilst we were disappointed that the matter got to the point it did, we welcome the clear ruling of the Judge.
‘The judgement speaks for itself and we won’t be making any further comment.’
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