Maycock v Legg Bros Ltd

JurisdictionIreland
JudgeFitzGerald J.
Judgment Date10 March 1972
Neutral Citation1965 WJSC-SC 4992
Docket Number(3-1971)
CourtSupreme Court
Date10 March 1972

1965 WJSC-SC 4992

THE SUPREME COURT

Ó Dálaigh C.J.

Walsh J.

Budd J.

FitzGerald J.

McLoughlin J.

(3-1971)
Maycock v. Legg Bros Ltd
STEPHEN MAYCOCK
v.
LEGG BROTHERS LIMITED
1

JUDGMENT delivered on the 10th day of March, 1972, by FitzGerald J.

2

Appeal by plaintiff from High Court (Murnaghan J.) order remitting case to Circuit Court – whether jury would be justified in awarding over £600 to 13 year– old schoolboy who cut right hand while cleaning in vicinity of unguarded saw–blade.

3

Judgment of FitzGerald J. ( Ó Dáalaigh C J Walsh J.Budd J. Concurring) Allow appear–retain action in High Court Mr. Loughlin J. dissenting (no written judgment).

4

The plaintiff's claim in this action is for damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by him on the 11th July, 1969, as he alleges through the negligence and breach of statutory duty of the defendants.

5

The plaintiff at the time of the accident was a schoolboy of thirteen years of age and it is alleged that at the time of the accident he was in the course of his employment, during summer holidays, cleaning out sawdust in the defendants' factory in the vicinity of an unguarded edge of a very sharp saw when the back of his hand came in contact with the blade and he thereby sustained a 2 inch transverse laceration on the back of his right hand. It is alleged that in addition to the laceration the extensor tendon of his right middle finger was severed. He was brought to the Mater Hospital where, under general anaesthetic, the wound was treated and an operation performed by Dr. Hedderman to repair the severed tendon. A plaster cast was applied to the hand; he was discharged the next day and subsequently attended hospital as an out-patient for supervision. The plaster cast was removed on the 3rd September, 1969, some eight weeks after the accident and he than attended hospital for physiotherapy.

6

It is alleged in the statement of claim, which was delivered on the 27th January, 1970, that he could not then write properly, that the grip of the hand was weak and that the hand looked peculiar and that there was a sore spot on the back of the hand, that the movement of the middle finger was limited, that the finger could not be flexed closer to the base of the thumb that 1 inch and that consequently the grip was seriously impaired. It was further alleged that he had a 2 inch scar on the back of the hand and had a lumpy area beside the scar which...

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