Two boys, one of whom was alleged to have been "scutting" on a scrap collector's cart and the other on a local authority trailer, have been awarded £33,500 damages in Dublin Circuit Civil Court.
Mr John Doherty, for Mark Cooke, said he had been "hitching a lift" on the back of a scrap merchant's horse and cart in Marrowbone Lane, Dublin, when he was hit by a Garda car.
Mr Doherty told the Circuit Court president, Mr Justice Smyth, that Mark, now aged 11, of Derry Park, Crumlin, Dublin, said he had permission to ride on the cart and was knocked down when he got off to go to a shop. He said a scrap merchant, Mr Valentine Bolger, had told gardai he shouted at the boy "scutting" on his cart and he jumped off seconds before being hit by the Garda car. Mr Doherty said he was asking the court to approve a £12,500 settlement offer to the boy from the Minister for Finance on behalf of the Gardai.
A four-year-old boy was awarded £21,000 for injuries he received when run over by the wheels of a trailer attached to a Fingal County Council jeep.
Mr Eoin Garavan, for Charles McDonagh, the Halting Site, Castlebar, Co Mayo, said the boy fell off the trailer at St Christopher's Halting Site, Finglas, almost five years ago. Charles, now eight, broke three ribs and suffered abrasions and psychological injury after a wheel ran over him. Mr Garavan said Fingal County Council had offered £21,000 damages.