Near-Miss Toddler Awarded 10,000 Euros for Bicycle Crash

Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, heard in the Civil Court how two-year-old Katie Campbell, of Ratoath, County Meath, suffered years of post traumatic stress after a near miss in a toyshop. Katie, now seven, had been visiting the Smyths Toys shop in the Airside Retail Park, Swords, County Dublin, with her father, when a bicycle fell directly in her path from a shelf 14 feet above her head. Although sustaining no injuries, the court heard how subsequent to the event Katie started to suffer nightmares and showing signs of anxiety. The court was then told that Katie had been referred by her GP to a consultant child psychologist, who diagnosed her as having post traumatic stress based on her hypersensitivity to sudden, loud noises and an unwillingness to play with other children. Smyths Toys Ltd had offered the amount of 10,000 Euros as compensation, but as with all settlements for child injury, the award had to be approved in court.