A YOUNG boy whose little finger was amputated down to the first knuckle following an accident at an ice rink has settled his High Court action for an “all-in figure” of €32,500.
In the incident, the boy slipped and fell on the ice rink, and another skater then ran over his hand.
The court assessed total legal costs at €8,445 in the case, leaving over €24,000 for the boy, who is now 16 years of age and who cannot be named.
The original application to the court had proposed a breakdown of €20,000 damages for the boy with legal costs amounting to €12,500. However, Mr Justice Garrett Simons had adjourned the matter to allow the child’s solicitor put in material to assist the court in assessing what the appropriate amount for legal costs should be.
The boy, who was eight years old at the time of the accident in 2013, lost the top of his little finger to the first knuckle on his left hand in the accident at a Donegal ice rink. His little finger on the left hand is now 17mms shorter than the right-hand little finger.
Mr Justice Simons, who ordered that the boy not be identified, said he was involved in a traumatic accident and sustained a permanent disfigurement to his left hand.
The judge had adjourned the ruling of the case where a settlement had been reached between the boy’s father, who had sued the operators of the ice rink at the time – R&A Leisure Ltd in Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal.
The judge said a number of offers were made by solicitors representing the defendant to settle the case, with the first being an “all in figure” broken down as €7,500 in damages and €7,500 in legal costs.
He said the application before him to approve that settlement was refused on the basis that the sum of damages did not reflect a reasonable settlement.
Further negotiations ensued, the judge said, and two improved offers were made. The latest offer amounted to an all-in figure of €32,500 with damages assessed as €20,000 and legal costs amounting to €12,500.
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