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A WOMAN who tumbled over a bench when she was a schoolgirl and fractured her arm has lost her case for damages.

Kellie Gregan (22) claimed the accident, which happened in her school 13 years ago, left her with three scars on her arm, and she only wears long-sleeve tops.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross said the then nine-year-old suffered a nasty injury which occurred when she fell over a bench while playing the game ‘bench ball’.

He said she had not established that it was unreasonable for the school not to have mats on the floor at the bench. Dismissing the claim, and ordering that each side pay their own costs, the judge said Ms Gregan had not in any way exaggerated her injuries.

Ms Gregan was in third class at St Joseph’s National School, East Wall, Dublin, when the accident happened in September 2006. She was playing bench ball – a game which left her standing on a bench in an attempt to catch the ball thrown by her teammates.

She told the court she missed the ball and got off the bench to retrieve it, but lost her footing as she tried to get back on the bench and fell.

She said a bone in her arm had popped out. She had to have three operations on the arm. Ms Gregan sued the board of management of St Joseph’s National School, East Wall.

She claimed it was negligent of the school to allow her to perform an unreasonable and unnecessarily dangerous act in climbing, or attempting to climb the bench.

She further claimed there was a failure to place mats that would have broken her fall around the bench. The school denied the claims and contended the students were playing a different game of dodge ball and Ms Gregan – of Crescent Gardens, East Wall, Dublin – was not required to stand on a bench.

It was contended she opted to mount the bench and did so in a careless manner, causing injury to herself for which the school it claimed it was not liable.

Online Editors

Teen wins court appeal for citizenship application

A teenage girl who has lived here with her east European parents since 2012, and whose five-year-old sister was born here, has won her appeal against the Justice Minister’s refusal of her application for citizenship.

The minister must now reconsider Adriana Borta’s application in line with the Court of Appeal’s finding he gave inadequate reasons for his decision that her Irish associations were “not sufficiently strong” to warrant naturalisation.

Through her mother Nadejda Borta, Adriana (16) appealed over the High Court’s dismissal of her challenge to the minister’s refusal. Adriana’s parents were Moldovan citizens by birth but her mother later became a naturalised Romanian citizen.

The family have lived here since August 2012, when Adriana was aged nine.

Her mother applied for citizenship for Adriana in 2016 on the basis of being the sister of an Irish citizen child, being in full-time education here and having lived here at the time of application for four-and-a-half years.

The minister refused to grant a certificate of naturalisation under section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956.

While acknowledging Adriana is a person with “Irish associations”, the minister did not consider those associations sufficiently strong to grant naturalisation.

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly noted a person is of Irish association if they are “related by blood, affinity or adoption to, or is a civil partner of, a person who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen”.

In exercising his discretion, the minister failed to give adequate reasons, she held.

Irish Independent

Callely and wife sued over €2.9m loan for properties

Former junior minister Ivor Callely and his wife Jennifer are being sued in the Commercial Court by a finance company over €2.9m outstanding on loans for property investment.

Everyday Finance DAC is seeking judgment against Mr Callely, of Howth Road, Killester and Jennifer Callely, of St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, both Dublin, arising out of €2.4m in loans advanced to them by AIB to buy investment properties. The loans were sold to Everyday Finance in 2018.

Mr Callely was not in court or represented because it had not been possible to contact him following an accident in the summer, Cian Ferriter SC, for Everyday Finance, said.

However, Mr Ferriter said he is involved in a separate case and a court was told last week he should be in a position to give evidence in the other proceedings. Counsel said he suspected therefore he was aware of this case. He asked for an adjournment for three weeks when, if necessary, an application to serve him with court papers, other than personally, will be sought.

His wife, who the court heard now goes by her maiden name of Foley, was represented in court and did not object to the adjournment. Mr Justice Robert Haughton agreed to adjourn the application for entry of the case into the fast track commercial list for three weeks.

Mr Callely is a former Fianna Fáil junior minister and senator who was jailed for five months in 2014 after he admitted fraudulently claiming €4,207.45 in expenses on forged mobile phone invoices between November 2007 and December 2009.

Irish Independent

Flight attendant sues Dolores’s estate over alleged ‘air-rage’ case

A flight attendant caught up in an alleged air-rage incident five years ago which saw Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’Riordan removed from an Aer Lingus plane is proceeding with a damages claim against the deceased singer’s estate.

Carmel Coyne, of Cappagh Road, Co Galway, is also suing Aer Lingus over the incident on November 10, 2014.

The High Court personal injury proceedings were initiated in early 2017.

On Monday, Tadhg Dorgan BL, for Ms Coyne, applied to the court for orders amending the title of the case so as to allow it be brought against the personal representatives of the singer’s estate.

Counsel told Mr Justice Charles Meenan that the personal representatives had informed his solicitor they would consent to the amendment order.

Granting the application, the judge made orders replacing O’Riordan’s name in the title with that of the personal representatives – Peter J O’Riordan, of Kilmallock, Limerick, and Nollaig Hogan, of Glin, Co Limerick.

In an affidavit grounding the application, Emma Colleran, of Michael Houlihan & Partners, solicitor for Ms Coyne, said the case arose out of an incident on November 10, 2014, when Ms Coyne was a senior cabin crew member on a long-haul Aer Lingus flight from New York to Shannon.

O’Riordan was a passenger on that flight and it is alleged she deliberately caused injury to Ms Coyne by stamping on her foot and physically attacking her and by restricting her liberty and/or freedom of movement.

Ms Coyne claimed damages against the singer for alleged assault, battery, false imprisonment and for breach of Ms Coyne’s right to privacy and to earn a living.

It is claimed, as a result of the incident, Ms Coyne was out of work for seven months.

In a defence delivered in July 2017, O’Riordan, a mother of three, had denied the claims.

On January 15, 2018, 46-year-old O’Riordan was found dead in a bath in a hotel room in London.

An inquest later concluded she drowned in the bath while intoxicated with alcohol.

The coroner, Shirley Radcliffe, said what happened “seems to be solely a tragic accident”.

O’Riordan was being treated successfully for bipolar affective disorder and there was no evidence she was feeling suicidal, the coroner said.

Just last week, it was announced that a new music bursary would be established in memory of the late rock star.

The €4,000 bursary was launched by Limerick City and County Council in association with Dolores’s family.

Her mother Eileen O’Riordan said she was delighted that Limerick would honour Dolores in this imaginative way.

“It’s my hope that the Dolores O’Riordan Music Bursary will allow a musician to follow their dreams,” she said.

The bursary will go towards costs relating to the production of a specific body of new artistic work, improving musical knowledge through any research or short-term courses or mentoring or towards development of a website.

The closing date for applications, which are available from www.limerick.ie, is Thursday, October 31.

Irish Independent

Swine flu jab legal action to be test case for 100 others

A landmark High Court action is set to prove a test case for Ireland’s vaccine programmes and more than 100 children and young adults who claim they contracted a sleeping illness, narcolepsy, having received the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix.

Experts believe the action, to open before the High Court tomorrow, will raise issues as to whether a duty of care is owed to those allegedly injured and whether there may be a future requirement to get informed consent by warning of the risks of a new vaccine which has limited clinical trials.

Aoife Bennett (27) from Kildare is seeking damages from both the State and the drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over her allegation that she contracted narcolepsy from the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix in 2009.

Almost 100 further narcolepsy damages claims are now pending against the State.

The outcome of the Bennett case, which is expected to take up to 12 weeks at hearing, could have enormous implications.

The Bennett action, being handled by Michael Boylan and Gillian O’Connor of Michael Boylan Litigation in Dublin, will be opened by former attorney-general Dermot Gleeson SC who is acting for the plaintiff along with Denis McCullough SC and Jonathan Kilfeather SC.

It is fully contested with the State having spent millions of euro in defending the action.

The vaccine was rushed into service because of fears in 2009 of a global swine flu pandemic.

However, it had not fully completed clinical trials and the government agreed to indemnify GSK, which would not otherwise have agreed to supply the vaccine. Pandemrix was finally withdrawn on March 28, 2011, after studies overseas indicated a link to spiralling cases of narcolepsy.

The Government and GSK have denied liability.

A HSE spokesperson said it sought tender applications from vaccine firms whose products were licensed by the European Medicines Agency.

“Due to ongoing litigation in Ireland concerning Pandemrix, we are unable to comment,” a GSK spokesperson said.

The Sufferers Of Unique Narcolepsy Disorder (Sound) group hopes the case will reveal how the vaccine roll-out was handled.

“We believe it is way past time for the State to finally step up on this issue and to fulfil the duty of care it is morally bound to provide to the children and young adults injured by the State.”

Irish Independent

Quarter of drivers caught using mobile phones avoid justice as they were not served summons

A quarter of motorists who were supposed to appear in court for using a mobile phone while driving have been let off in recent years because they were never served with summonses.

And of those who did end up going before a judge only half were convicted, new data reveals. Some of the cases were dismissed because prosecuting gardaí did not turn up in court, while others were thrown out because the wrong person was prosecuted.

The figures, released to Independent TD Tommy Broughan by the Courts Service, cover the period from January 2017 to May of this year.

They provide further evidence of dysfunction in the prosecution of road traffic offences, coming just weeks after the Irish Independent revealed how 45.7pc of summonses for speeding offences were not served in the same 29-month period.

Motorists were only summonsed to court for using a mobile phone while driving if they failed to avail of two opportunities to pay a fixed-charge penalty. But the data shows that of 13,846 alleged mobile phone offences which had been due to be considered by a judge, 3,553, or 25.6pc, were struck out because the summons was never served.

Some 2,432 motorists who were summonsed were also able to avoid a court appearance by availing of what is known as the third payment option to pay their fine.

The data shows that of the 7,862 remaining offences which did end up going before a judge, just 3,952 ended in a conviction. Road safety campaigners said they were dismayed by the 50.3pc conviction rate.

The Parc Road Safety Group, which has consistently highlighted problems in the enforcement of road traffic offences, said the low conviction rate raised serious questions.

“Thousands of people are avoiding conviction and this sends out a worrying message about the state of road traffic law enforcement in this country,” said Parc spokeswoman Susan Gray.

In a letter to Mr Broughan in July, then Courts Service CEO Brendan Ryan said the reasons why cases were dismissed could include the failure of the prosecuting garda to attend court.

Other reasons can include the defendant providing evidence which proved they should not be convicted or the judge wasn’t satisfied the case was proven. Mr Ryan said in some cases the prosecuting garda may apply to have the matter struck out if evidence came to light that another person was driving the vehicle.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has said there can be a variety of reasons why a summons is not served.

In correspondence with Mr Broughan, the minister said attempts to serve summonses can be affected by inaccurate address information, people moving home, people living in multi-occupancy dwellings, or people taking steps to evade service.

Mr Flanagan said the rate of non-service was “higher than I as minister or any agency engaged in road traffic enforcement would wish” and that he had received assurances from gardaí that work was being done to improve the service rate.

While the average rate of conviction for mobile phone cases was around one in every two, an analysis of the data shows wild variations from county to county. The highest conviction rate was in Co Longford, where 71.9pc of cases that went before a judge were successfully prosecuted. On the other end of the scale, just 19.7pc of cases which went before a judge in Co Clare ended with a conviction.

“An Garda Síochána is constantly reviewing its own internal processes to ensure that where possible summonses are served in a timely fashion,” the Garda press office said.

A number of initiatives under the Criminal Justice Working Group have improved the overall rate of summons service and that alternative measures were also being considered for collecting unpaid fixed charge fines. In relation to the failure of prosecuting gardaí to attend in court, it said all non-attendance was monitored by local management and can be dealt with under disciplinary regulations.

Irish Independent

‘Jack should still be here’: HSE apologises to family of talented Irish jockey (19) who died following fall

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) apologised to the family of a talented Irish jockey who died following a fall in a point-to-point race after acknowledging that his care in hospital fell below expected standards.

The High Court and Mr Justice Michael Hanna was told the written apology had been given to the Tyner family as part of the settlement of an action taken against the HSE and Cork University Hospital (CUH) over the death of jockey Jack Tyner (19).

Mr Tyner died on February 7 2011 having suffered a serious head injury in a fall at a point-to-point meeting in Dungarvan, Co Waterford six days earlier.

The young man was the only son of Robert and Mary Tyner from Innishannon, Co Cork and is survived by his parents and five sisters.

His parents had initiated the High Court action after maintaining that their son should have survived his head injury.

Sean Lynch SC, for the family, instructed by solicitor Carmel Best, told Mr Justice Hanna that the HSE had admitted liability in elements of Mr Tyner’s care, had issued a written apology to the family but had denied causation or that the failings in care contributed to his actual death.

The Tyner family disputed this.

“This was a terrible tragedy,” Mr Lynch said.

“They (the HSE) have admitted fault. But they did not admit causation. They admitted they were at fault (in elements of the care provided) and they have apologised to the family in writing,” he said.

Mr Justice Hanna confirmed an undisclosed settlement.

Speaking outside the court, Jack’s mother, Mary, said his family are convinced Jack should still be with them today.

She said the family had only taken the action so that lessons could be learned and other families could be spared their loss.

A trauma expert consulted by the plaintiffs said that, assessing the injury the young man suffered, he should only have been at a 9pc risk of death.

“Jack loved life and lived for the sport of horse racing. His ambition was to be a top jockey,” Mary Tyner said.

“He had great ambitions to get on with his life and be at the top of his game.

“On February 1 2011 Jack had a fall at a point-to-point meeting sustaining head injuries.

“Following the fall, he was taken to CUH and we were led to believe he would be there for a few hours at most.

“Jack never came home and died on February 7 2011.

“We subsequently learned that Jack received substandard care – had Jack received early intervention and the appropriate care at CUH he would be with us today.

“We got suspicious over certain things that happened. But if they just stood up at the start and told us, ‘we made a mistake – things went wrong’, we would not have had almost eight years of torture trying to get answers.

“It took us so long to get answers. They kept backing out and saying it was not their fault.

“But it was frightening to learn what went wrong,” she continued.

“We accept the HSE has apologised for their part and their failings. In our view, however, lessons cannot be learned unless the professionals accept their part at an early stage as opposed to years of unnecessary litigation.

“This has been a very traumatic journey for us but from the outset we felt we had no option but to ensure Jack’s story was told.

“Jack, our only son, grandson and brother was 19 years old, a fledgling young jockey whose dreams were taken away from him and us.”

Mrs Tyner said Jack’s siblings remain heartbroken that they never got a proper chance to say goodbye to him in hospital.

“They told us he would only be kept overnight (in hospital). He is very much missed (by his family). They (his sisters) never got a chance to say goodbye to him because we always thought he was coming home.

“But that never happened.”

Jack’s father, Robert Tyner, is a well-known horse trainer.

On February 1 2011, Jack Tyner suffered a heavy fall in the second section of the six-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden race at Dungarvan when his mount, Dusmagic, crashed out at the first fence.

The teen had just won the previous race and had already ridden six winners in his budding career.

He had worked with the Limerick-based trainer, Enda Bolger, and was regarded at the time of his death as one of the most talented young jockeys on the point-to-point circuit.

In 2011, Turf Club chief executive, Denis Egan, paid tribute to the young man.

“Jack’s death is a tragedy for his family and everyone associated with racing. It is only when something like this happens that it brings home the risks all riders take on a daily basis,” he said.

Irish Independent

Toddler rushed to hospital with seizures after swallowing father’s MDMA, court hears

A 14-month-old girl suffered seizures after swallowing some of her father’s MDMA supply, a court heard today.

Prosecutors said the toddler was exposed to a “significant” quantity of the drug during the incident in west Belfast.

Her 25-year-old father was given 18 months probation after pleading guilty to causing or procuring cruelty to a child.

The defendant, who cannot be named to protect his daughter’s identity, must also complete 100 hours community service.

The child was admitted to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children on January 30 this year due to prolonged seizures.

Medical checks confirmed she had ingested an amount of MDMA, the city’s Magistrates Court was told.

A Crown lawyer said a high concentration was detected in her urine, demonstrating exposure to a significant amount capable of causing the effects.

At the time neither of the little girl’s parents were able to provide an explanation, with both denying drugs use.

However, when the defendant was interviewed again he admitted having taken MDMA the previous Saturday night.

He said he had no idea how his daughter then got hold of the drugs.

During the hearing it was confirmed that the child made a full recovery within 48 hours.

“There is no suggestion of any long-term effects,” the prosecutor added.

District Judge Mark McGarrity questioned why the case was not being dealt with in the Crown Court.

He explained that custody options available to him following the guilty plea would not “meet the justice of what happened”.

“This is a matter of considerable gravity,” Mr McGarrity said.

“I’m inclined to impose a combination order, with a probation element of 18 months and 100 hours community service.”

Irish Independent

HSE secures order to treat malnourished 4st 6lb woman at risk of death

The HSE has secured an emergency High Court order allowing it to take steps aimed at saving the life of an extremely underweight woman who is at risk of sudden death.

The woman, who is in her 30s, presented at a hospital in recent days very malnourished. Doctors at the hospital say she is extremely underweight, at 28-29kg (4st 6lbs)and has a very low body mass index (BMI) of 10.5, while she is very weak and has no energy.

Her doctors say that while she did eat some food following her admission, she is currently refusing to eat anything, and lacks insight into the fact that her life is at risk.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has also refused to allow staff at the hospital carry out basic medical tests on her, including taking her temperature or monitor her heart rate.

The doctors say that the woman lacks the capacity to understand what is happening to her. Yesterday evening the HSE applied to the High Court for orders allowing it to take various steps, including feeding her by nasal gastric tube, aimed at saving her life.

The orders also prevent the woman from leaving the hospital. Seeking the interim orders Donal McGuinness BL for the HSE and the hospital said the results of the limited amount of tests that the woman has allowed to be performed on her have yielded very worrying results.

She is, counsel said, in imminent risk of suffering a sudden death.

In reply to questions from Mr McGuinness, a consultant doctor involved in the woman’s treatment said that the woman does not realise how ill she is, and lacks the capacity to make any decision regarding treatment.

The doctor said that the woman’s BMI was one of the lowest he has seen. The consultant said that the woman has no energy, can barely raise her arms or sit up.

When he spoke to her about her condition the woman said that maybe she was “a little gaunt”. The orders were granted, on an ex-parte basis, by Mr Justice Max Barrett.

The Judge said he “hoped she gets better soon”.

The judge was also satisfied to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the woman’s interests.

The judge adjourned the matter to a date in October.

Irish Independent

The High Court has quashed a decision compelling a rural school to re-enrol an eight-year-old boy who was expelled after assaulting five members of staff – striking one with a hurley.

The court heard the boy, who has special needs and is on the autism spectrum, had in the last few years been involved in more than 30 incidents in which teachers, special needs assistants and other students were bitten, assaulted, kicked, punched or head-butted by him.

In his judgment following a late sitting of the High Court, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys ruled that the direction by the Department of Education requiring the school to take back the student was “otherworldly”, “fundamentally flawed” and “riddled with irrelevancies”.

The judge said the decision-makers also failed to take into account the rights of other students at the school to an education, as well as the school’s staff and students’ rights to bodily integrity.

In all the circumstances the judge said he was satisfied to quash the decision, and ordered that the matter be remitted back for fresh consideration.

Neither the student nor the school can be identified for legal reasons.

The decision had been challenged by the school’s board of management. The board, represented by Feichín McDonagh SC and Joe Jeffers Bl, said the action was being brought in the interests of avoiding serious risk to the safety of other pupils and staff.

Counsel said the boy was involved in 38 incidents over a two-year period including a very serious incident in April last when the boy began chasing another pupil around an empty classroom with a hurley.

A female teacher, who was trying to reason with the boy, had been punched in the chest by him and when he was removed from the room he had started kicking and hitting both the principal and the teacher, who he struck in the leg with the hurley.

The school suspended and then formally expelled the boy. The boy’s mother appealed that decision to a three-person Department of Education appeal committee. Last August the committee overturned the school board’s expulsion decision. The Department of Education directed the school to re-enrol the boy.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys said he was satisfied to quash the committee’s decision. Based on the evidence put before the court the judge said that “no reasonable person could allow the appeal”.

Irish Independent