Baldwin v National Museum of Ireland

JurisdictionIreland
JudgeMs. Justice O'Hanlon
Judgment Date26 July 2019
Neutral Citation[2019] IEHC 593
CourtHigh Court
Docket Number[2018 No. 3852 P.]
Date26 July 2019

[2019] IEHC 593

THE HIGH COURT

O'Hanlon J.

[2018 No. 3852 P.]

BETWEEN
WARREN BALDWIN
PLAINTIFF
AND
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND
DEFENDANT

Personal injuries – Negligence – Damages – Plaintiff seeking damages – Whether the defendant was negligent

Facts: The plaintiff, Mr Baldwin, issued a personal injuries summons dated 1st May, 2018 having first received PIAB authorisation pursuant to s. 14 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Acts 2003 and 2007, to bring the proceedings within a period of six months from the 4th April, 2018. The plaintiff claimed to have been descending the main balcony stairway in the premises of the defendant, National Museum of Ireland, on or about the 5th June, 2016, and that as he reached the second or third last stair, his foot was caused to slip from underneath him, whereby he sustained severed personal injuries loss, damage, inconvenience and expense and this was claim based on the alleged negligence, breach of duty, including breach of statutory duty, nuisance and/or misfeasance of the defendant, their servants and/or agents or their employees in and about the design, construction , upkeep, maintenance, management, care, supervision and inspection and control of the said premises and in particular of the main balcony stairway thereto. A full defence was filed on the 21st November, 2018 and Particulars of contributory negligence were pleaded in the defence filed.

Held by the High Court (O’Hanlon J) that, in all the circumstances, on the balance of probability, the plaintiff suffered the injury as a result of the fall in the defendant’s premises and that it was reasonably foreseeable that a person could suffer such a fall. Even though it was a rare occurrence, O’Hanlon J held that this was not conclusive in ruling out the possibility completely and the Court found that there was a shininess on the portion of the steps as marked by the plaintiff as to where he fell. The Court found that the plaintiff came across as credible and reasonably consistent in his evidence. O’Hanlon J held that the steps in question were shiny and slippery and as a result of that the plaintiff suffered the injury described by him. The Court held that the said accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant in failing to provide a safe system in particular a railing for a person such as the plaintiff to hold onto the entire way down the said staircase. This Court accepted the contention that because the railing stopped before the end of the staircase there was a tendency for people to move towards the centre portion and that the plaintiff suffered severe inconvenience pain and suffering loss and damage as a result of the negligence of the defendants in all the circumstances.

O’Hanlon J held that, having taken into account that this had been massively inconvenient and painful for the plaintiff, that it had required him to travel home from holiday, business class to Australia to be treated by his own doctors in respect of the injury, that the scar was 2.6mm in length and that the plaintiff suffered and continued to suffer as a result of the injury, it was appropriate that the general damages awarded were in the sum of €65,000 plus items of special damages as agreed at €1,989.59 giving a total of €66,989.59. The Court had regard to the Book of Quantum. O’Hanlon J found no basis for a finding of contributory negligence.

Damages awarded.

JUDGMENT of Ms. Justice O'Hanlon delivered on the 26th day of July, 2019
1

The plaintiff is a retired man having been born on 30th March, 1949 who resides at 9 Iluka Street, Revesby, New South Wales, Australia NSW 2212.

2

The defendant is a museum building with its registered office at Kildare Street, Dublin 2 and sued in its capacity as the owner, occupier and or controller of the said premises at all material times.

3

The plaintiff issued a personal injuries summons dated 1st day of May, 2018 having first received PIAB authorisation pursuant to s. 14 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Acts, 2003 and 2007, to bring the proceedings herein within a period of six months from the 4th day of April, 2018, authorisation no. PL0222201875969.

4

The plaintiff claimed to have been descending the main balcony stairway in the defendant's premises, on or about the 5th day of June, 2016, and that as he reached the second or third last stair, his foot was caused to slip from underneath him, whereby he sustained severed personal injuries loss, damage, inconvenience and expense and this is claim based on the alleged negligence, breach of duty, including breach of statutory duty, nuisance and/or misfeasance of the defendant's their servants and/or agents or their employees in and about the design, construction, upkeep, maintenance, management, care, supervision and inspection and control of the said premises and in particular of the main balcony stairway thereto.

5

A full defence is filed on the 21st November, 2018 and Particulars of contributory negligence were pleaded in the defence filed.

Evidence of Warren Baldwin
6

Mr. Baldwin gave evidence confirming his date of birth as the 30th March, 1949 and that he lived near Sydney Airport, Sydney, Australia. His evidence was that on 5th June, 2016 he was on holidays with his wife Tanya and they flew to Dublin from Rome, Italy during a bank holiday weekend. They were going to another level when the incident occurred.

7

With reference to photograph 1 the plaintiff identified the locus as being exactly where they arrow on the photograph was and he said he put his foot right on the edge of the step and that his wife was in front. He thought that he probably put his foot on the bottom step and that his wife was two to three steps ahead of him and that he put his foot on the nosing of the stairs. He said that he went on his right side and he hit the step and he was crawling onto the landing and that he thought that he had broken his leg, that the top of the thigh between the knee and the hip part was injured.

8

Ms. Deirdre Horgan from the defendant's premises came to his assistance with some security people and he was in great pain at the time. She was very helpful and called an ambulance for him. He spent all night on a trolley in hospital for over fifteen hours and he was administered painkilling medication. He was seen by a doctor at 2am the following morning and was given more pain relief and then was seen by an Orthopaedic Surgeon at 8 o'clock the following morning. The plaintiff was diagnosed with a retraction of the rectus ligamentous muscle, consistent with a partial tear of the right quadriceps tendon and was diagnosed with a quadriceps rupture and the MRI, on his return home to New South Wales, confirmed a full thickness tear of more than 50% of the (right knee) quadriceps tendon. The plaintiff was advised that surgical repair was required and that that operation could not be left longer than two weeks. He was fitted with a brace and crutches and he couldn't move his leg himself nor could he put any weight on it.

9

The plaintiff obtained a flight from Dublin to Dubai and then onto Sydney and was treated with aspirin and Panadol until he was seen by his own general practitioner in Sydney. Dr. Kirsh ensured that an MRI scan was conducted the same day. The plaintiff noted that he had a heart bypass in 2014 and he had to wait until the Thursday in the week of his return before he could be operated on, to allow blood thinning medication to leave his system sufficiently to enable such an operation. The plaintiff has undergone physiotherapy but found same expensive and found that he was not able to stretch his leg as far as he used to. His evidence was that prior to the accident he had a seven handicap in golf and that handicap is now eleven. He contends that he cannot swing his golf club as well as he used to and he doesn't play as much as before.

10

The plaintiff's main complaint about this accident was that there was nothing to hold onto going down the steps. He denies missing the last step but he remembers rolling down the last couple of steps. He confirmed that he was wearing Adidas trainers at the time of the accident. Under cross-examination the plaintiff confirmed that he fell on the third last step as far as he could. This witness denied that he had indicated at the time that he had missed the step. He believed that he fell from the third step down rolling down to the landing. He said he was rolled down the second and first step specifically.

11

The plaintiff confirmed his signature on the PIAB claim form dated 14th February, 2018 and the answer to the statement he had made ‘I was walking down the middle of the stairs when my foot slipped forward …’. This witness said that his foot slipped out and caused him to temporarily fall back and then onto his side and he said when he fell on his back he threw himself to his side and that his body hit the steps on the right hand side and that he heard a crack on his leg as he went to the right side but he denied that he had given different descriptions of what had happened and he said he is aware that one has to take care going down steps. He said that there was shininess on the steps around the second and third steps and he agreed that the two of them looked the same.

Evidence of Tanya Ellen Baldwin
12

This witness confirmed that she was 39 years married to the plaintiff and that she lived in New South Wales, Australia. She described arriving in Ireland on 3rd June, 2016 and that the accident occurred on the 5th June, 2016. Her recollection was that she was a few feet in front of her husband and that she believed that when she found him he was on his left side his right side facing up in a curved position and she said he was above and to the left of the lavender blue triangle design in the centre of the floor. This witness said that she heard a thud and that she was in front and that she didn't know which step her...

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