A young man, who suffered serious injuries when diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool while on a family vacation in Spain, has settled his claim for holiday swimming pool injury compensation out of court.
Robert O’Byrne (25) from Dublin was left quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair following his accident in the Spanish resort of Torremolinos in 2005. Robert, who was aged just seventeen years at the time, dived into the shallow end of a hotel pool at night after having consumed alcohol during the day.
In June 2008, Robert initiated a claim for holiday swimming pool injury against Michael Stein Travel Ltd of Dublin – the travel agent through who the holiday had been booked – alleging negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract.
Michael Stein Travel contested the claim, and sought leave to issue a third party notice against Robert´s parents – alleging that they were in breach of their duty of care by allowing their son to drink alcohol contrary to the laws of Ireland and Spain, and by failing to supervise Robert´s actions which led to him diving into the shallow end of the swimming pool and sustaining his terrible injuries.
Robert´s parents argued that, at the age of seventeen, their son was old enough not to be under the continuous supervision of his parents and it was unreasonable to expect otherwise. They also produced evidence to show that alcohol was “sold indiscriminately” to young people by the bars within the hotel complex.
In December 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed Michael Stein Travel´s application to have Robert´s parents added to the case as defendants, and the claim for holiday swimming pool injury compensation was scheduled to be heard in the High Court.
However, when the case was called to be heard before Mr Justice Sean Ryan, the judge was told that the claim had been settled “on specific terms”. Details of the out of court settlement of compensation for a holiday swimming pool injury are to remain confidential.