A CYCLIST who had his thumb almost broken in a road rage incident was awarded damages against Bus Éireann yesterday.
Scott Alexander Burns, an occupational therapist who works with cancer patients in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, said a bus driver bent his right thumb so far back that it tore the ligaments and muscles.
Mr Burns, a father of three, Greenwood, Ayrfield, Dublin, was yesterday awarded €15,000 damages for assault against Bus Éireann.
He told his barrister, Jennifer O’Connell, that he had cycled to and from work daily for the past 20 years and had experienced much aggression from lorry drivers, bus drivers and motorists. On August 28th, 2009, he had ridden up on the footpath at Bachelors Walk, Dublin, to pass a coach parked on the street outside the Arlington Hotel.
Mr Burns said the driver, William Murray, Kilnamanagh, Tallaght, Co Dublin, was removing luggage from the coach and a number of people were standing around waiting for their baggage.
He said Murray started shouting at him, complaining that he had interfered with his ability to do his work. Following an exchange of words, Murray shoved his chest up against his. Mr Burns went around to the front of the coach and photographed its registration on his mobile phone before taking a photograph of Murray.
“He knocked my phone out of my hand and when I went to pick it up, he grabbed my wrist and pinned my right thumb back all the way,” Mr Burns told the court.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane rejected legal submissions by solicitor Ger O’Herlihy for Bus Éireann that the company was not liable for an action by an employee on a public footpath which was not associated with his duties as a driver.
Paul Douglas, regional personnel manager for Bus Éireann, said Murray had undergone all training modules for a bus driver and the company had no knowledge whatsoever that he had any propensity to act aggressively.
Murray, who is currently in prison, did not attend court.