A man who was injured after a wall collapsed as he climbed over it to retrieve a football when he was a teenager is to receive €31,500 after a judge decided he was 30 per cent responsible for the incident.
Bradley Hart, now aged 22, of Bawnlea Green, Jobstown, Dublin 24, suffered a dislocated elbow and other traumatic injuries in the incident.
He was awarded €45,000 but this was reduced on the grounds of contributory negligence.
In late 2023 Mr Hart, who had sued through his mother, Lorraine Clarke, saw a Circuit Civil Court judge throw out his €60,000 claim against his mother’s landlord, South Dublin County Council, on the basis that he should have known better than to have climbed the perimeter wall.
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During an appeal before the High Court, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart told barrister Michael Byrne SC the court was satisfied that the wall was in a dangerous condition.
Mr Byrne, who appeared with David Kearney BL and HJ Ward Solicitors, outlined to the court that Mr Hart, who was then aged 13, was playing with other children in his back garden when the ball went over the wall into an open area behind his home.
He climbed the wall in order to retrieve the ball but the structure suddenly collapsed, sending him and a heap of rubble to the ground. He suffered shock, fright, distress and significant personal injuries, the court heard.
He was brought to Tallaght Hospital where the dislocation was reduced while he was under sedation and his arm was placed in a cast. Wounds on his back were cleaned and dressed and he continued as an outpatient under the care of the fracture clinic for a number of weeks.
It was pleaded that had the then teenager did not return to boxing after the fall as he tended not to have the same confidence in his left arm, the extension of which was slightly reduced due to his elbow injury. A fear about eventual osteoarthritis in his elbow was also outlined to the court.
The council claimed in a full defence that there was no defect in the wall and, in any event, its maintenance was the responsibility of the tenant under a tenancy agreement.
Judge Stewart said she was satisfied the wall was dangerous but, although Mr Hart was a child at the time, he should have known better at age 13 than to have climbed on to it given there was a risk involved.
The judge awarded Mr Hart costs of his High Court appeal and his costs for the earlier trial in the Circuit Civil Court.
