© The Irish Independent
A mother of two who claimed she suffered chronic carbon monoxide poisoning due to an oil leak from the turbo charger of her new car has settled her High Court action for damages.
Helen Noble bought the BMW Mini Clubman for her three-hour commute from her Co Wicklow home to work in a busy Dublin city practice.
But she told the court she suffered headaches, dizzy spells, nausea, slurred speech and her eyelashes and hair fell out over a three-year period as she used the car for her daily 76km round trip from home to work.
“It was the most harrowing horrible experience of my life. I missed out on a couple of years of my children’s’ lives. It was a horrendous couple of years,” she said
Ms Noble (42), Killballyowen, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, sued Motor Import Ltd, trading as Frank Keane (Naas Road), Dublin, as well as BMW AG, of Munich, Germany, and Permanent TSB as arrangers of the hire purchase agreement.
The defendants denied any liability.
In her action, Ms Noble claimed she was repeatedly subjected to noxious, dangerous gases and alleged carbon monoxide poisoning over three years.
In her case against Motor Import Ltd and BMW, Ms Noble claimed she was acting as a consumer when she bought the car from the Frank Keane premises on August 14, 2008 under a hire-purchase agreement for a total of €45,362. The cash price was €37,406, the initial payment was €7,693 and total payment was some €45,362 via 48 monthly instalments of €588 and a final payment of €9,320 on September 19, 2012, she claimed.
After hearing some evidence last week, Mr Justice Michael White was told the action had been settled and could be struck out.
The judge was also told the costs order in favour of Ms Noble was to be made against the BMW car company.