AN 81 year old woman who fell while shopping in Dunnes Stores in North Earl Street, Dublin, has lost a £30,000 damages claim for personal injuries.

Ms Ellen Gaffney, of St Jarlath's Road, Cabra, said she injured her leg, head, neck and back when she fell down stairs in the drapery department in November 1992.

Judge James Carroll, in Dublin Circuit Civil Court, held Ms Gaffney had failed to prove there was a spillage in a store which did not sell food or drinks and into which security staff instructed customers not to bring such items. "Courts cannot substitute guesses for probabilities," he said.