Claire Noone, now aged 25, has been awarded 4.35 million euro in the High Court for a car crash in November 2005 at Johnstown, Enfield, County Meath, in which her boyfriend John Larkin died.
Noone was ejected from the car during the impact so there was a question about wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision and therefore contributory negligence.
The result was severe lower back injuries that makes walking anything other than a short distance painful.
It was stated in court that the crash occured with another car went through a red traffic light and hit the car driven by Claire Noone with John Larkin in the front passenger seat.
The judge, Mr Justice John Quirke, was highly critical of the fact that injury compensation law in Ireland only allowed lump sum payments rather than annual payments, which he described as a “lottery situation”.