FILM footage has emerged from a Co Kildare showing a customer putting glass in her mouth and then pretending to choke.

The CCTV footage rom the pub in Newbridge reveals the extent of the threat facing small businesses as they battle soaring insurance premiums and massive compensation claims, according to the publican.

The footage shows a person taking glass from under her top then placing it in her mouth, when she then pretends to choke.

She then tells bar staff the glass was in her food and she had accidently eaten it.

Owner of Judge Roy Beans Vivian Carroll, where the footage was taken, said the try-on was typical of the type of claim faced weekly by publicans.

“Sadly, this is typical of what I and many other publicans face on a weekly basis. It’s clear from the footage that after hiding glass in her clothes this person then deliberately places it in her mouth. She told a member of staff the glass was in her food, which was obviously not the case.”

Mr Carroll added that he and his staff checked the CCTV footage and told her the entire incident had been recorded.

“The Gardaí were called, they took her details and she left. But if it wasn’t for security cameras I could possibly have faced a massive claim.”

The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) which represents Mr Carroll and 4,000 other publicans, said the case shines a light on the opaque world of compensation claims.

VFI chief executive Padraig Cribben said: “The so-called ‘compo culture’ stems from the fact that people think they can get away with making outrageous insurance claims, a belief supported and encouraged by some within the legal sector and facilitated by insurers settling dubious claims.”

Mr Cribben said the public needs to understand that false and exaggerated claims force businesses to close and staff to lose their jobs.”

Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said the footage is a timely reminder of the type of personal injury incidents experienced by organisations all over Ireland and the crippling insurance costs they cause.

Online Editors