Posted: July 15th, 2020
At the High Court €71,770 personal injury compensation has been awarded to a woman who broke her two front teeth and fractured her ankle in a petrol station fall.
Grandmother Mary Delaney crossing the garage forecourt while holding some groceries when she stubbed her toe on a lip of tarmacadam and fell to the ground.
At the hearing Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon on Thursday found that incorrect workmanship was to blame for the accident. She said that the fall happened as a result of the placing of an excessive depth of material in a patched area. This created a definite tripping hazard in the guise of a 14 millimetre height difference.
The woman in question, Ms Delaney, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, took the personal injury compensation action against Circle K Ireland Energy Group Ltd, formerly Topaz due to her accident at the Topaz Filling Station, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, on May 20,2017.
During the hearing Ms Delaney told the Judge that she had on a pair of black laced shoes at the time of the accident. She added that her face was black and blue afterwards and she had to use a straw to drink liquids in the weeks after the accident happened. She sustained a fracture ankle and has not retained 100% movement in her left foot and suffers from stiffness as a result of the accident. In addition to this she had to undergo paid nine visits to the dentist for damage she sustained to her teeth.
The Judge said that Ms Delaney came across as a credible witness and a
‘a reasonable person’ who did not exaggerate her symptoms in any way.
The defendant in the legal action, Circle K, argued that the changing gradient was gradual rise and not ‘lipped’.
The judge said she did not accept thethis argument saying: “It is reasonably foreseeable that a person such as Ms Delaney would suffer such an accident in these circumstances as there was a lack of reasonable care in the reinstatement of the pavement”.
Ms Justice O’Hanlon, who accepted that this was “an acrimonious case”, granted Circle K’s application for a stay in the event of an appeal providing €35,000 and costs are paid out to Ms Delaney at once.
Categories: Personal Injury Compensation
