A man has been ordered to pay Rochdale Borough Council 18,000 after a court found he lied about sustaining an injury after hitting a pothole on his bike.
Phillip Harkins, 42, whose address was given in court as Lily Lane, Platt Bridge, Wigan, was seeking up to 20,000 in compensation from the council after he claimed to have fractured his collarbone after he came off his bike in Summit Street, Heywood, after hitting a pothole in May 2020.
Following initial investigations, the council told Mr Harkins they would be defending the claim, so he took them to court, where District Judge Haisley determined that Mr Harkins had acted in a fundamentally dishonest way. As well as throwing out his claim, the Judge ordered Mr Harkins to pay the council’s legal fees, which amounted to just over 18,000.
During the hearing at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre on 7 October 2025, the court heard that Mr Harkins had indeed fractured his collarbone, but it was likely due to him performing ‘bunny hops’ on his bike, rather than hitting a pothole.
The court heard Mr Harkins' timeline of events did not add up, with the Judge finding that he could not have been in Summit Street at the time he claimed to be. In addition, a friend he was cycling with at the time of the alleged incident also gave a different account of the day, with a different timeline, when questioned independently.
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