A two-year-old toddler who tripped over mats and cut her forehead in a Marks and Spencer store has been awarded over €18,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne heard that Lauren Hickey, Naas, Co Kildare, had just passed her second birthday when the accident happened at the company's Liffey Valley shopping centre branch.
Mr Vinog Faughnan, counsel for Lauren, said that on August 27th, 2000, the child was walking along the floor when she tripped on mats which had fallen to the ground from a display unit.
Lauren struck her forehead off the display unit and was cut over her left eyebrow.
Lauren's mother had taken her to hospital where the cut was stitched. She had been left with a half-inch scar which was noticeable at conversation distance.
Mr Faughnan said medical reports suggested she could be in her teens before one could say how the scar would affect her. Plastic surgery had nothing to offer her.
He told Judge Dunne that Marks and Spencer (Ireland) Ltd had offered Lauren just over €18,000 compensation to settle her claim and he recommended the court's approval of the amount. The money will be invested in court funds until she is 18.