Summers v Fairclough strikes again

On Thursday 14th July 2016, judgment was handed down in the County Court at Central London in the case of Sikand v CS Lounge Suite Ltd and others striking out both claims as abuses of the process of the court.  Mr Sikand, an aspiring lawyer who currently works for the government in the UK Export Finance Department, suffered injuries in two accidents in 2012 which he said, for the purposes of his personal injury claim, had left him unable to pursue his intended career as a Solicitor as he suffered from such bad back pain and depression that he was unable to work.  By monitoring Mr Sikand's social media accounts for two years, solicitors for RSA - the insurers for both defendants, uncovered that Mr Sikand had spent most of the period since the accidents in work or training.  Surveillance further confirmed the fraud.  DJ Avent granted the defendants' application for interlocutory strike out without hearing oral evidence from Mr Sikand, finding that:

"...Mr Sikand has not only clearly lied and been dishonest but that the nature and extent of that dishonesty is very serious and significant. It matters not that he has not been cross-examined or had his oral evidence heard; the untruths are palpable, undeniable and unanswerable."

Sadie Crapper appeared for both defendants in the strike out applications.