Comerford v Carlow County Council

JurisdictionIreland
JudgeMr. Justice Twomey
Judgment Date24 November 2017
Neutral Citation[2017] IEHC 720
Docket Number[2014 No. 2818P]
CourtHigh Court
Date24 November 2017
BETWEEN:
SEAMUS COMERFORD
PLAINTIFF
-AND-
CARLOW COUNTY COUNCIL
DEFENDANT

[2017] IEHC 720

[2014 No. 2818P]

THE HIGH COURT

PERSONAL INJURIES

Tort – Damages & Restitution – Trip and fall – Contributory negligence – Personal injuries – Onus of proof – Breach of statutory duty – Ex Tempore Judgment

Facts: The plaintiff filed a claim for damages for sustaining personal injuries as a result of a trip and fall on a pedestrianised cobble lock. The plaintiff contended that he fell into a hole in cobble lock and injured his nose. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was in breach of statutory duty for not maintaining the premises in a safe condition and the premises were shoddy and defective.

Mr. Justice Twomey dismissed the plaintiff's claim. The Court held that the plaintiff had failed to establish the balance probabilities of the accident. The Court noted that even if it was presumed that the accident had occurred in the manner as alleged by the plaintiff, the plaintiff would have been primary responsible for the accident, as the normal route for the plaintiff was to stay on the footpath and avoid the hole in cobble lock, but he took the field that had led him into the hole. The plaintiff could not establish enough evidence in which it could be proved that the defendant was liable for his injuries.

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT of Mr. Justice Twomey delivered on the 24th day of November, 2017.
Summary
1

This case involves a claim for personal injuries as a result of a “ trip and fall” on pedestrianised cobble lock. In considering this claim, this Court is obliged to follow the law on personal injuries in relation to liability and quantum as laid down by the Court of Appeal.

2

In Byrne v. Ardenheath [2017] IECA 293, the Court of Appeal noted that expert evidence, in this case by an engineer, is frequently compromised by the fact that all too often the opinions appear to correspond too favourably with the interests of the party that is paying the expert. The Court of Appeal went on to state that in straight forward matters, such as a trip and fall as in this case, the High Court when faced with expert evidence alleging negligence was obliged to ‘ bring ordinary common sense to bear on their assessment of what should amount to reasonable care’. In applying those principles to this case, this Court concludes that the plaintiff's claim should be dismissed.

Factual background
3

The plaintiff is a 38 year old man who was a student at the time of the accident. He claims that he fell in a hole in cobble lock paving attached to a footpath near his home in Shroughan Close, Tullow, County Carlow on the 2nd March, 2013, at approximately 7.30 pm. He fractured his nose as a result of the fall and he claims that his nose tilts to the right as a result of the accident. The hole in the cobble lock is within a few inches of the base of a lamppost. There...

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