A MAN who walked next door and punched his neighbour in the mouth has been told by a judge to pay him ?9,000 compensation.

Siobhán Gaffney, for Barry Matthews, told the Circuit Civil Court that her client admitted the assault on electrician Andrew McDermott in July 2009.

Mr McDermott (48), St Conleth’s Road, Walkinstown, Dublin, told her that Matthews, who lived next door, had made some allegation about bullying involving their two sons.

“There was a knock at the door and I went out to answer it,” Mr McDermott said.

“Barry Matthews was standing at the door and punched me in the mouth.”

Mr McDermott told his barrister Abdulla Morgan Kamber that his left upper lip had been lacerated “through and through”. There had been blood everywhere and on the hall floor, which he did not want his children to see.

He had gone to St … Read More »

A three-year-old girl suffered nightmares after gardaí had attempted to enter her home by force at night, a judge was told yesterday.

Ruby Whearity was upstairs with her mother when gardaí had been let into her home by her father in January last year, only for them to find they were in the wrong house.

Barrister Bebhin Sparks told the Circuit Civil Court that a garda had gone upstairs and there were others in the house and garden, before they realised they had attempted to enter the “incorrect address.”

She told Mr Justice Matthew Deery that liability with regard to the error was not an issue and while Ruby, whose home is in Chapel Close, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, had been extremely distressed by the incident, her anxieties had resolved within a matter of months.

Ms Sparks said Ruby, who is now aged four, had … Read More »

A 16-year-old schoolboy who was hit over the head with a steel stool by another student has been awarded €9,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.

Ivan Daly, for Daniel Mulligan, Sillogue Park, Ballymun, said the boy had been assaulted initially in the corridor of Trinity comprehensive secondary school, Ballymun, Dublin, in October last year.

Shortly afterwards he had been hit on the head in a classroom with a stool by another student. The blow caused a three-inch cut to the boy’s scalp which required eight stitches.

Mr Daly said Daniel and his fellow pupils were being supervised at the time and there was a possibility the case could be lost on failure to prove negligence.

He said he was happy to recommend the Circuit Civil Court’s approval of a €9,000 settlement offer by the school.

Circuit Civil Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery directed … Read More »

A boy, who suffered an injury to his lip in a creche when he was three years old has been awarded €17,700 damages in the Circuit Civil Court in respect of a Personal Injury Claim.

Bernard Rogan, counsel for Luke Hyland, Russell View, Tallaght, now aged seven, said the boy had run into the back of a chair on December 19th, 2008.

The judge heard that Mr Rogan, at an earlier hearing, had convinced the court not to approve a lower assessment of the injuries board.

Mr Rogan said he had since negotiated an improved offer of €17,700 together with full legal costs and a further €1,137 towards fees and expenses.

The boy had made a full recovery apart from a mildly noticeable permanent mark on his lip.

31-year-old Dublin man feared he would contract a blood-borne infectious disease after sitting on a syringe needle in the city’s North Star Hotel, a judge was told in court yesterday.

Judge Alison Lindsay awarded Derek Ledden €10,000 damages and costs against the hotel owner, BC McGettigan Limited, which has its registered office at Waterloo Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Mr Ledden told the judge in the Circuit Civil Court that he had to abstain from having sex with his girlfriend until he received a HIV and hepatitis all-clear six months after the incident and it had strained their relationship.

Barrister John Moher said Mr Ledden, of Upper Oriel Street, Dublin, had suffered a traumatic experience six years ago when his brother, Stephen, had been murdered in a mistaken identity shooting at their home.

The judge said a needle had been found on the floor and there … Read More »

A schoolgirl who was injured by a discarded syringe needle in the bedclothes of her Dublin hotel has been awarded €17,500 in the Circuit Civil Court.

The court heard as Amy Kane (then 12) was settling into bed at Castleknock Travel Lodge, Dublin, on June 6th, 2009, she was pricked on the elbow by the needle in the bed linen. Amy, Dundonald, Belfast, was taken to the hotel reception, where first aid was applied to a bleeding wound on her arm.

Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery was told that after returning home the next day, Amy attended her GP in Northern Ireland. Tests were later carried out at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald to see if she had contracted a blood-borne disease.

Mr Justice Deery heard she had to wait three months for test results, which were negative for hepatitis and … Read More »

A 29-year-old barmaid was burned by a chemical fluid that leaked from a bottle while she worked at Howl at the Moon nightclub, Lower Mount Street, Dublin, a judge heard yesterday.

Barrister Noel Cosgrove told the Circuit Civil Court that on November 2nd, 2006, Magdalena Klimkiewicz of Bertram Court, Lamb Alley, Christchurch, was filling bottles with cleaning fluid when the incident happened.

She had been pouring water into a bottle containing sodium hydroxide, a detergent, when steam and hot liquid burst from it, burning her right arm and hands. She was taken to the emergency unit of St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin. She returned to work a week later.

Ms Klimkiewicz sued Mount Street Pub Ltd, trading as Howl at the Moon, which is now in receivership, for negligence.

Mr Cosgrove said a judgment against the pub owners had been obtained earlier on the … Read More »