A COURT has awarded £8,400 to a married Dublin woman as compensation for being head butted at the Mosney holiday camp.
The victim's nose was fractured in the attack as she drank a cup of tea, the court heard. Her nose was still scarred four years later.
The damages award was made at a special sitting of the Circuit Court in Trim, Co Meath, to Mrs Margaret Doyle (41), of Errigal Road, Drimnagh, who was on holiday at the Mosney centre Co Meath, at the time.
The award was made against the owners of the holiday camp, Mosney Irish Holidays.
The assault, which happened in the Cosy Kitchen Cafe, led to a Dublin man, Patrick Scanlon of Rathvilly Drive, Finglas, being sentenced at Drogheda District Court to four months' imprisonment in May 1993.
Mrs Doyle, a mother of five, said she had been going to the Mosney camp on holiday for more than 20 years.
On the night of the assault she was sitting at a table with her sister, aunt and two others. A security man was nearby.
"This lad leaned over the counter and was abusive towards us, slagging us and calling us names," she said.
"He was with another lad and a girl and took chips from my plate. He also took cigarettes and I went out after him and took the cigarettes back from him.
"I approached the security man and asked him was he going to do anything about it. He was watching what was going on."
Mrs Doyle added that when Scanlon returned she told him to "get lost" and it was then that he head butted her.
"A man walked out and said to the security guard `Now you will possibly do something with this man'", she added.
She was not able to go to her work as a cleaner at both the US embassy and the Labour Court until the bruising went down two weeks later.
The court was told that eventually Scanlon was chased by security men and handed over to gardai.