A young man has sued Iarnród Éireann after part of his left leg was amputated following an incident where he fell between a moving DART train and the train platform.
Tim O’Neill (26) and a group of friends had just disembarked from a southbound DART at Killester station about 10.30pm on Halloween night 2002 when the accident occurred.
He claims he had disembarked but fell back as the train moved back. After he fell, he claims the train’s movement spun him around and he eventually ended up on the rail tracks.
As a result of his injuries, Mr O’Neill was taken to hospital where surgeons had to remove his left leg from below the knee, the court heard.
Mr O’Neill, Woodbine Close, Raheny, Dublin, is suing Iarnród Éireann for damages. He alleges negligence and breach of duty arising out of the accident on October 31st 2002.
It is claimed Iarnród Éireann was negligent on grounds including failure to warn passengers about the presence of a wide gap between the train and the platform. It is also claimed there were no adequate signs at the station or audible warnings to passengers on the DART about the gap and that the platform at the Killester Station was poorly lit.
The company denies the claims and also pleads contributory negligence on the part of Mr O’Neill. The company claims Mr O’Neill had consumed alcohol before the accident occurred and was the author of his own misfortune.
In evidence, Mr O’Neill said he and some friends caught the DART to Killester, a station he was not familiar with, after listening to music from earlier on Hallowe’en night 2002, about 7.30pm.
He had had five cans of Dutch Gold lager to drink but, when he and his friends got off the train, they were totally coherent, he said.
He was the last one to leave the carriage, he said. Some 15-20 seconds after leaving the DART, his left leg and then his right went between the train and the platform and “he lost his grip”, he said. He was “spun” by the train and ended up on the tracks below.
He remembered another train approaching and making an attempt to get out of the way, he said. He was unable to move and one of his friends helped moved him out of the way. He was then taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital, where an operation was performed to amputate part of his left leg the following day.
Opening the case earlier, John Rogers SC, for Mr O’Neill, said Mr O’Neill had been working as a kitchen porter at Clontarf Castle at the time of the accident.
Mr O’Neill had hoped to work as a sound engineer and was a drummer in a band, counsel said. However, while he had done some part time work in that area, he had to give that up because of problems associated with his prosthetic limb. As well as the physical injuries suffered, Mr O’Neill also suffered from depression, counsel added.
The case before Mr Justice Eamon De Valera continues on Friday.