A 38-year-old mother of four was left facing legal costs yesterday after a judge dismissed her damages claim against an Aldi store where, she claimed, sweets may have caused her to fall.
Judge Alison Lindsay said housewife Clara Nebanmor had not mentioned until that day that she had seen sweets lying on the floor after “something under her foot” had caused her to fall in October 2012.
The judge told the Circuit Civil Court Ms Nebanmor had failed to prove that the Aldi store in Naas, Co Kildare, had been negligent or had failed in its duty of care to her as a customer.
The plaintiff said she had been carrying items along a shopping aisle when something had caused her to fall forward on the floor injuring her knees, chest, abdomen and shoulder.
She said she had only seen the sweets when she was on the floor and had failed to mention them to the manager at the time because she had been confused and distressed.
Ms Nebanmor, of The Crescent, Curragh Bridge, Newbridge, Co Kildare, said she thought she “fell on a sweet”.
Judge Lindsay heard she had been referred by her GP to the A&E Department of Naas General Hospital, where X-rays revealed she did not have any fractures. She had suffered soft tissue injury to her knees, chest and shoulder.