A 12-year-old boy who suffered injuries after he fell 12 feet to the ground from scaffolding has been awarded €25,000 damages by the Circuit Civil Court.
Barrister James O'Donnell told the court that on June 22nd, 2012, Alex Sheridan was playing with friends near his mother's apartment at Hardwicke Street, Dublin.
Mr O’Donnell said Alex and his friends managed to climb onto a wheelie bin and then hauled themselves over an 8ft high barrier into a construction site situated at Greenville Street Flats.
After climbing through vertical bars onto a flat roof, Alex and his friends had then climbed on a ladder to go on to the scaffolding. Alex had fallen to the ground after a plank on the scaffolding broke under his weight.
Judge Sarah Berkeley heard that Alex, who was nine at the time, hit his head in the fall and lost consciousness temporarily. He had then complained of pain in his left knee and ankle.
An ambulance was called by a local resident who witnessed the incident. Alex was taken to the Emergency Department of Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin.
He had suffered cuts and abrasions to his body and a laceration to the right side of his scalp, which required gluing. The wound left a visible 2cm scar on his scalp.
Through his mother, Vicky Sheridan, Alex sued Dublin City Council; Townlink Construction Ltd, with an address at Greenhills Business Park, Tallaght, Dublin, and also Netwatch Ireland Ltd, of Curam House, Athy Road, Carlow, Co Carlow, for negligence and breach of duty.
He claimed that the defendants had failed to ensure that children would not enter the construction site, which he alleged had no adequate security system in place.
Mr O’Donnell said that liability was a significant issue in the case. He said that a €25,000 settlement offer had been made on behalf of the defendants and he was happy to recommend acceptance of it to the court. Judge Berkeley approved it.