A five‑year‑old non‑verbal autistic boy had his finger almost completely severed in an incident at a Dublin respite centre, a court has heard.
Judge Ken Connolly heard details of a distressing crush injury to the child’s right middle finger which had been trapped in the hinged side of a door as he was being taken to the bathroom by a member of staff.
Barrister Lydia Bunni, who appeared with Lauren Butler Fitzpatrick of Ferrys Solicitors for the boy, who is not being identified, said a member of staff at Sanas Community Services centre in Finglas, told the Circuit Civil Court that the staff member had closed the bathroom door firmly on the child’s finger.
His mother, in written evidence, stated the incident occurred in January 2024 in the Jamestown Business Park respite centre and she had been shocked when called to the centre following the incident.
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“His blood was all over the floor and his hand was wrapped in a towel,” she said. “His injury was such that ambulance staff decided not to unwrap my son’s hand and took him straight to hospital.”
She said she had been extremely anxious and her son had been very upset and his eyes had become puffy with tears. Her main concern was to comfort him and he had been taken to Temple Street Childrens’ University Hospital.
“I found it very difficult to look at his finger when the towel, stuck to his wound, eventually came off,” his mum said.
Bunni told Connolly that the tip of the boy’s finger had almost been completely severed and it transpired also that he had suffered a bone fracture. She said his injury had been cleaned and dressed on the day and he had returned to the hospital on the following day to undergo plastic reconstructive surgery under general anaesthesia.
Counsel told the court that Sanas, which on a weekly basis offers hours of respite to families with autistic and impaired children, had initially offered the boy a €15,000 settlement which had been rejected as inadequate by a District Court judge.
The offer had afterwards been increased to €20,000 which Bunni said she was asking the Circuit Court to consider. Following her presentation of what had happened Connolly said he would allow a brief adjournment of the matter to see if the defendant could be persuaded to increase its offer.
When Bunni returned to state that an extra €500 had been offered to the boy Connolly said they had not “broken their heart” over it and approved of the new €20,500 settlement offer together with Circuit Court costs.
