Injury Compensation News

A fourteen year old schoolgirl, who was falsely accused of shoplifting from Penney´s shoe store in Dublin, has had a compensation settlement for mental distress approved by the Circuit Court.

Sarah Coughlan of Dublin was purchasing a pair of shoes at the Henry Street store in May 2010 when she noticed that they were slightly soiled. A sales assistant told Sarah that she could take another pair instead but, as the teenager was leaving the store, she was apprehended by a store security man and accused of shoplifting.

Despite being able to display the receipt of the purchase, Sarah was searched and escorted to a basement office where she was interrogated over the alleged theft. Sarah´s requests to call her mother were denied but, while she was temporarily left alone, she was able to get a message through to her mother about her situation.

Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard at Dublin´s Circuit Court that only after the arrival of the Gardai and Sarah´s mother was she allowed to go home and, although not having suffered any physical harm, was mentally distressed. Sarah´s mother sought legal advice and made a personal injury claim against the store on Penny´s behalf.

Although the store denied the complaint of false arrest and defamation, an offer was made of 15,000 Euros personal injury compensation, which was accepted by Sarah and her mother. Approving the award, Mr Justice Matthew Deery said that Sarah had undergone a very bad experience and, in addition to the compensation settlement, also awarded her costs of 5,000 Euros.

A sixteen year old schoolboy, who sustained deep cuts in his thigh when climbing over a supermarket car park fence, has had a child accident claims settlement of 36,800 Euros approved in the Circuit Civil Court.

Michael Hogan of Firhouse, County Dublin, was just eleven years of age when the accident happened in 2006. Climbing over a supermarket car park fence at the Firhouse Shopping Centre, he caught his leg on a protruding and unprotected nail, which tore a deep V-shaped wound into the inside of his left thigh.

Michael´s injuries were so severe that he had to have a double layer of inner flesh stitched together under a general anaesthetic and, although he has recovered now, will be left with a permanent scar as a reminder of his injury.

Liability for the injury was not contested by the owners of the Firhouse Shopping centre – Colverton Limited – and Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard that the defendants had made a settlement offer of 36,800 Euros. The judge approved the offer, ordering that it should be invested in court funds until Michael´s 18th birthday in March 2015.

Mr Justice John Quirke has spoken out against delays in introducing “periodic payment orders” for personal injury compensation cases in which catastrophic injuries have been sustained. Describing the current lump-sum award system as “a lottery situation”, the chairman of the Working Group on Medical Negligence has been pressing for more than a year for a periodic payment system to be introduced.

The judge was addressing lawyers representing the State and Health Service Executive when his concerns about delays in the promised legislation were made public. Mr Justice John Quirke told the assembly that the informal approval of a life-long payments system had already saved the State “tens of millions” of Euros, however he claimed that seriously ill people would be in an unsatisfactory position if the laws were not speedily introduced.

The judge brought to the lawyers attention two specific cases which are due for review in October 2011.

The first concerned Brid Courtney of Ardfert, County Kerry, who was awarded an interim personal injury settlement of 2 million Euros in compensation for alleged negligence at her birth. Now suffering the consequences of birth-acquired brain damage, Brid will need lifelong care – care which should be paid for in periodic payments if legislation is passed in time.

The second case revolved around Elaine Lennon of Balbriggin, County Dublin, who is now severely disabled due to the failure of the Castle Mill Medical Centre to properly diagnose a brain infection during her pregnancy. Elaine too was awarded in excess of 2 million Euros as an interim settlement on the basis that she would benefit from the periodic payments structure once legislation was introduced.

In his comments to the lawyers, Mr Justice John Quirke expressed that if the State failed to quickly make its intentions clear about how soon periodic payment legislation was to be introduced, judges would have no option but to revert to sanctioning lump sum payments – at great expense to the State and Health Service Executive.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to a family for the death of their young son from meningitis at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth, and resolved a claim for wrongful death compensation in an undisclosed out of court settlement.

The family of four month old Dean Patrick Kenny from Drogheda, County Louth, brought an action for wrongful death against the hospital and HSE, claiming that the hospital staff had failed to diagnose their son’s condition and discharged him when it was unsafe to do so.

The family alleged in their claim that Dean had been referred to the hospital with suspected meningitis by the family GP early in the morning of July 1st 2002. Dean was examined and discharged, and the family went home where Dean’s condition continued to deteriorate.

After a later visit to their GP – where meningitis was confirmed – they returned to the hospital, but it was too late to save little Dean, who died that night.

In their defence, the hospital and HSE denied negligence, and pleaded it had complied with general approved medical practices. They claimed that Dean did not show clinical features of bacterial meningitis and was feeding well.

However, shortly before High Court proceedings were about to commence, Mr Justice John Quirke was informed that the HSE had made an undisclosed offer of settlement, which was accepted by the family, and the case was to be struck out.

The tragic tale of Jade Keane hit the national headlines in February this year, when Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill awarded Jade (10) a settlement package of 7 million Euros for the devastating and permanent injuries of post natal hydrocephalus.
The judge had found that gross medical negligence by the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Holles Street National Maternity Hospital and Jade´s GP – Dr Dermot Stones of Ballybrack, County Dublin – had led to her developing water on the brain in the weeks and months after her birth.
An immediate payment of 4.75 million Euros was to be paid as an interim settlement by the HSE and the hospital – both of whom admitted that mistakes had been made, but denied that they amounted to actionable negligence – and, before Mr Justice Seán Ryan at the High Court, they sought indemnity or contribution from Dr Stones in relation to the damages.
After reviewing the case, the judge ruled that there was nothing to distinguish the blameworthiness of all three defendants – stating that they were equally “grossly inept” – and ruled that each should pay one third of the damages awarded by Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill in February.

The mother of a two year old girl, who died after contracting meningitis, has been awarded more than 170,000 Euros after the hospital in which the little girl died admitted errors in the way they handled her condition. Natalie Courtney (28) of Drimnagh, County Dublin, had taken her daughter, Aisling, to Our Lady’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin on February 19 2006, after Aisling had started suffering from hallucinations and a sore neck. The doctor who examined Aisling diagnosed her as having a 24-hour viral gastric bug and being dehydrated. Natalie requested that Aisling be kept in overnight for observation and stayed with her daughter throughout.
After the initial examination, a rash developed on Aisling’s back and, early in the morning of February 19, Aisling was placed on a drip. She subsequently developed purple spots on her skin, and Natalie was informed that Aisling was being treated for meningitis.
Aisling’s condition deteriorated and she was moved into the hospital’s intensive care unit. But, at 10.25am, Aisling died of a heart attack. The shock was overwhelming for Natalie who, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neil heard at the High Court, became socially withdrawn and developed feelings of guilt due to her own failure to intervene in Aisling’s treatment and demand more appropriate action. After seeking legal advice, Natalie sued the hospital for nervous shock arising from Aisling’s death, claiming that she had suffered depressive injuries as a result of the manner in which she had witnessed her child’s death.
Our Lady’s hospital conceded liability late last year – extending and aggravating Natalie’s feelings – and Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neil accounted for this lack of admission when awarding Natalie 150,000 Euros plus an amount to cover the costs associated with legal representation at the inquest into Aisling’s death.

A three year old girl, who lost the tip of her fingertip in a nursery pushchair accident, has had a product liability compensation settlement of 20,000 Euros approved in the Circuit Civil Court.
Roisin Longo of South Finglas, County Dublin, was just two years of age when her fingertip was sliced off in the hinge mechanism of her MacLaren Techno XT while she was attending Mellow Spring Childcare Development Centre in Finglas West.
Fast acting staff at the crèche found the fingertip and packed it ice so that her mother, Ms Elaine Deans, could take Roisin to hospital and attempt to have the amputated fingertip sewn back on.
However, as Circuit Court President Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard, the best efforts of surgeons at Temple Street Children´s Hospital could not prevent the tissue dying and the fingertip eventually falling off.
After seeking legal advice, Ms Deans discovered that revealed the pushchair model had been recalled in the United States, and repair kits issued to customers due to acknowledged problems with the hinge mechanism. Even though the pushchair had been manufactured in England, and conformed to British and EU safety standards, Ms Deans filed a claim for product liability compensation against MacLaren Europe Limited, of Northampton, England.
Without accepting liability, MacLaren Europe Limited had made a settlement offer of 20,000 Euros – a settlement offer which Roisin´s mother was prepared to accept and which Mr Justice Matthew Deery had pleasure in approving.

A study by the Injuries Board has revealed that children between the ages of three and seven years account for more than a quarter of personal injury compensation settlements to minors.
The report showed that over 8 million Euros was awarded to children under the age of 18, with 25.3 per cent being awarded to the 3 to 7 age group, 21.5 per cent to the 7 to 10 age group and only 7.5 per cent to children under the age of 3 years.
Personal injury claims relating to motor vehicles accounted for 79 per cent of the awards made, while public liability claims accounted for the remaining 21 per cent, and the most dangerous place for a child to live was County Dublin – with 23 per cent of all awards nationally – while no awards at all were made to children resident in County Leitrim.
Coinciding with the release of the data, which showed personal injury compensation awards ranging from €500 to more than €170,000, Patricia Byron – the Chief Executive of the Injuries Board Ireland – announced that they were to sponsor the upcoming Temple Street Hospital fund raising campaign to research more into the causes of childhood injuries.
Professor Alf Nicholson of Temple Street Hospital welcomed the news, adding the alarming statistic that, in Europe, more children over the age of one die of injuries than all other diseases combined. He continued; “For every child that dies from an injury, 160 are admitted to hospital and over 2,000 are seen in the emergency department – deaths are just the tip of the iceberg”.

A young boy from Dublin, who received severe cuts when falling on broken glass in a laneway, has been awarded 20,000 Euros in compensation.
Christopher Connors of Rathfarnham, Dublin, had been playing soccer with his cousin in a laneway near his halting site home in October 2009, when he fell and lacerated his left arm on broken glass. He suffered deep cuts to his forearm and wrist in the accident, and a tear to his tendon had to be surgically repaired.
Judge Matthew Deery, sitting at the Circuit Civil Court, heard that a claim for personal injury compensation had been made against South Dublin County Council, who were responsible for keeping the halting site clean and safe.
The council had agreed with the Injuries Board Ireland’s assessment of damages amounting to 20,000 Euros, with a further 1,206 Euros in special damages, and the case was before Judge Deery for approval as Christopher is still under the age of eighteen.
Christopher has made a good recovery from the surgery, but may experience problems with his arm later in life. He also has major scarring on his forearm.

An eight-year-old boy, who lost the tip of his middle finger in an accident at his school, is to receive 24,000 Euros compensation.
Circuit Court president, Mr. Justice Matthew Deery, heard how Benjamin Schonfeld of Clonskeagh, Dublin, was just 6 years of age when he caught his finger in a door jamb at St. Killian’s German School in January 2009.
Benjamin lost approximately 4mm from the tip of his left middle finger, and his injury resulted in a subsequent hooked nail deformity.
Suing the school through his father, Heino, the judge heard that an assessment had been made by the Injuries Board Ireland which both parties accepted.
Approving the assessment of 23,000 Euros with a further 1,041 Euros costs, Mr. Justice Matthew Deery directed the school to pay the settlement into court for Benjamin’s benefit.