A JUDGE has dismissed a £30,000 damages claim by a five-year-old girl burned by sparks from exploding coal in the living room fireplace of her home.
"This is a case which would arouse anybody's sympathy and compassion," Judge James Carroll said in the Circuit Civil Court. "It involves a very nice little girl whose, neck was burned in three places."
But he agreed with Mr Garnet Orange, counsel for Cawoods Home Fuels, that the plaintiff had failed to prove allegations of negligence against the supplier.
Judge Carroll said the courts must brace themselves and be strict in enforcing the obligation on a plaintiff to prove the cause of an accident and who was responsible: "In this case the cause of the accident has not been shown and judges must obey the law. They cannot submit to the dictates of sympathy."
Mr Orange, seeking to have the action dismissed, said Ciara Collins's mother, Ms Jacqueline Collins, of Kingswood Castle, Ballymount Great, Dublin, had not proved Cawoods had supplied foreign matter which caused an explosion in her fireplace: "There should have been proof of negligence in the manufacture of the coal. It's a very unfortunate accident but there has been no evidence of negligence."
Mr Orange added that in his client's defence to the action he had specifically put the plaintiff on notice of proof of supply by Cawoods of the product alleged to have caused the explosion.
Judge Carroll heard Ms Collins was changing her three-month-old baby's nappy on her lap in front of the living-room fire when there was a noise like a "banger" going off.
Although she had a spark guard and a nursery guard in front, of the fire, three sparks of burning coal landed on Ciara's neck and caused burns which had left scars.
Judge Carroll said there were too many unanswered possibilities in the case, from the time the coal left the defendant's depot until it ended up in Mrs Collins's grate via her own coal-bunker.
An expert on behalf of the plaintiff had said the accident was definitely not caused by the explosion of a detonator, leaving the court with no evidence of what caused the bang or how a foreign substance got there.
"Nowadays people have got used to the idea that if an accident occurs somebody is liable and must compensate them. That, I'm afraid, is not so," Judge Carroll said.
He granted a stay on an order for costs against Ms Collins in the event of an appeal to the High Court.