An engineer seeking £5 million in compensation for injuries sustained in a motorbike crash has been accused of faking his symptoms. Grant Greening-Steer, 51, claims he now requires a mobility scooter and struggles with everyday tasks like tying shoelaces following the 2019 incident.
Mr Greening-Steer fractured his spine and suffered a “moderate to severe traumatic brain injury” when a car pulled out in front of his Yamaha motorbike near his New Milton, Hampshire, home in June 2019. He claims these injuries have left him unable to work and impacted his ability to manage daily tasks.
However, lawyers representing the other driver and his insurers claim that secretly recorded surveillance footage proves Mr Greening-Steer is a “malingerer” who is “deliberately lying” about his condition to secure millions. Charles Woodhouse KC, representing motorist Derek Ainge and his insurers, acknowledged the seriousness of the initial accident but maintained that the surveillance evidence demonstrates Mr Greening-Steer has since “made a reasonable functional recovery”.
Mr Greening-Steer has submitted a damages bill totalling £4,924,418, although some needs have yet to be quantified. The defence KC argued that the claim is worth a fraction of that at £112,022 – and should be struck out entirely due to his alleged lies. “His dishonesty has been present from the start of and throughout his claim,” said Mr Woodhouse.
Neurosurgeons who examined the cooling engineer and assessed the surveillance video concluded that it established exaggeration of his symptoms. One medic stated that “conscious exaggeration is clearly depicted … I am strongly of the view that he is malingering to enhance the value of his claim”. The barrister added: “The claimant’s dishonesty pervades every part of the quantification of his claim.”
Medical records suggest he made a “reasonable recovery” during the first year after his crash and was able to get back to part-time work, including driving a forklift truck. But Mr Greening-Steer’s damages claim flatly contradicts this, complaining of a range of restrictions including an “altered gait”, need for mobility scooters, and difficulties with buttons and laces.
