Boy who fell through skylight on hotel lawn settles for €75,000.
A 12-year-old boy who as a toddler fell through a skylight in a hotel grounds and broke his arm has settled his High Court action for €75,000.
Rory Veighey McCabe, who was just over two years old at the time, was playing on a grassed area at the Moyvalley Hotel, Co Kildare, when he dropped 10 feet through the skylight which was embedded in the ground.
The skylight was one of a number in a lawn area to provide light to a tunnel used by staff to access the hotel kitchens from the outside of the hotel.
Rory, who was attending a wedding with his family at the hotel, was playing with other children on the grass while the wedding speeches were taking place.
Through his mother Nicola Veighey, of Kilcock, Co Kildare, he sued the Moyvalley Hotel and Leisure Company, owners of the hotel, as a result of the accident on June 22, 2010.
Rory was attending the wedding reception at the hotel with his parents.
The wedding dinner took place in the main ballroom and a corridor led to the grassed area.
Shortly after Rory began playing with the other children, he fell through a skylight to the tunnel floor.
It was claimed the accessible lawn area was allowed to have an unsecured skylight and that this constituted a trip hazard.
There was also, it was claimed, a failure to warn the public and the parents of the boy of the existence of the skylight and a failure to remove a hazard from an area open to visitors.
Rory’s counsel, John Kennedy SC, told the court liability was not at issue in the case.
The toddler, he said, was not knocked out but suffered cuts and also broke his right arm.
He also lost three of his baby teeth as a result of the accident.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said the fall was very severe and the young boy was fortunate not to have suffered a brain injury.
The judge said Rory had had a very nasty fall but he had probably forgotten all about it now.
Mr Justice Cross said it was a very good settlement and he wished the boy well for the future.