Courtroom closed for deep cleaning after notice of positive Covid test

A judge was forced to close down a courtroom at the Four Courts “for deep cleaning” on Thursday, after a solicitor in a case received notice that an overnight test had proved positive for Covid-19.

Judge Cormac Quinn was hearing medical evidence in a case in which a 40-year-old Dublin woman had been lost for three hours in Ikea’s huge warehouse at Ballymun, Dublin, after she was struck on the head by a falling flat-pack.

Hanan Tababi, of Mangan Road, Dublin 8, has already succeeded against Ikea on the question of liability for the accident but the Circuit Civil Court judge required to hear how the accident had affected her life and study medical reports on her condition.

When Ikea’s counsel, Conor Kearney, told the court his instructing solicitor had just received a text from the Health Service Executive confirming his Covid test had been positive, Ms Tababi’s case was adjourned while the Courts Service was consulted as to what should happen next.

Ms Tababi told the court she was fully vaccinated and would prefer the case to proceed but the judge said there were certain ever-changing rules that had to be followed in such circumstances and put his determination of damages back until Monday.

Ikea incident

Ms Tababi had told her barrister, Eileen McAuley, that she had been shopping for a chest of drawers in the bargain corner of Ballymun’s Ikea warehouse in March 2016 when she had been struck by a large box containing flat-pack furniture.

Ms McAuley, who appeared with Synnott Lawline Solicitors, said her client had suffered injuries to her head as well as soft tissue injuries to her neck and shoulder.

Ms Tababi told the court she had suffered mentally as a result of the accident, having been diagnosed with adjustment disorder after experiencing intense anxiety and low mood in the months following it. She said she had suffered nightmares about things falling on her or her children.

She had lost her job in Apple as an IT technical support person as a result of her injuries and had experienced financial hardship due to her inability to work. She had considered cancelling her wedding as she had felt she could not afford it.

After taking expert advice from the Courts Service, the judge said he would have to adjourn the court while the room under went a deep clean and he would take up the case again on Monday.

The case initially started in the High Court but was transferred to the Circuit Court when Ikea accepted unlimited jurisdiction.