At the Circuit Civil Court Tori McDermott Ellis, an eight-year-old schoolgirl from Loughlinstown, has been awarded €40,000 cinema accident compensation in relation to a fall at a Dún Laoghaire cinema in which she dislocated her knee.
Ms McDermott Ellis was represented in court by Barrister Siobhán Gaffney. Gaffney informed the Circuit Civil Court that Tori had tripped and fell on an uneven floor surface in the EMC Cinema at the Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Dún Laoghaire. The accident, she informed the judge, had taken place on October 2, 2016.
Appearing in conjunction with Murphys Solicitors, Ms Gaffney told presiding Judge Frances Comerford that Tori, who is now 12 years old, had struck her left knee up against a cup holder that was attached to a cinema seat. After this collision the young girl found that she was unable to get up onto her feet afterwards.
The court was advised that the young girl was rushed by ambulance to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. Here was an X-ray was carried out that revealed her left kneecap had been dislocated. Surgeons were able to put her kneecap back into the correct position when the girl was sedated.
In order for the injury to be healed, Ms Gaffney told Judge Francis Comerford that Tori’s left leg had been placed in a cast for a number of weeks. Due to this the young girl was absent from school for a period of that time. In addition to having the cast put in place, Tori also undertook a course of physiotherapy treatments as part of her rehabilitation. Tori, through her mother Mellissa Ellis, had sued Irish Multiplex Cinemas Limited, Dún Laoghaire,
The Judge was informed that Tori, who has an address at Parc Na Silla Lane, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, had recovered well. Ms Gaffney also remarked to the court that the Injuries Board Book of Quantum places a value of such an injury somewhere between €28,000 and €56,000. She went on to say that, while liability had not been formally admitted in the case, the €40,000 personal injury compensation settlement, had been agreed between all parties before Wednesday’s court application.
The judge approved the settlement together with legal costs involved in the case.