DUBLIN: High Court ordered €22,500 in compensation for a seven-year-old boy whose arm got fractured when it got stuck between a shopping trolley and a lift door at a Dunnes Store.
Tadgh O’Brien was only five months old when the incident happened at the Dunnes Stores branch at the Jetland Shopping Centre, Limerick.
Tadgh was in the baby seat on the trolley while his mother was shopping. The trolley suddenly turned to the left and the boy’s left hand was caught between the trolley and the elevator door.
The accident happened on November 14, 2013. Tadgh’s mother, Maeve O’Brien, a native of Sheelin Road, Caherdavin, Co Limerick, then filed a lawsuit against the Dunnes Stores with registered offices at South Great George’s Street, Dublin.
The mother alleged that the accident was caused by a defective trolley. There was a child seat on the trolley that allegedly caused the child’s arms or hands to be exposed to the risk of a crushing accident while moving the trolley. The mother also claimed that the company had failed to set up an adequate inspection system and that it had made it impossible for the baby to escape. But the company denied her claims.
Tadgh was rushed to hospital with a fractured left arm and he was given painkiller medication. His mother said that he could not crawl even once because of the fracture. But the baby did not require surgery and recovered very quickly, said hiela Finn BL, instructed by Houlihan Solicitors.
Tadgh’s mother had complained about the incident on the day of the accident. But the proceedings were not commenced until five years later, the council said.
However, Mr. Justice Garrett Simons said the injury was a minor one and it was a really fair settlement.