A WOMAN who claimed her thighs and abdomen were scalded by tea when a tray fell on her lap in a cafeteria has withdrawn her claim for up to £30,000 damages against Roches Stores, Henry Street, Dublin.
Ms Jacqueline Bonnell (25), of Ceide Ainninn, Coolock, Dublin, told Judge Raymond Groarke she carried snacks and a pot of tea on a tray to a table in Roches Stores on Saturday, April 16th, 1994.
There were three four-legged tables drawn together to make a single table. She did not know how the tray with the teapot had toppled onto her legs.
Ms Bonnell said she immediately dropped her leggings around her ankles and ran from the cafeteria to the toilets.
She told Mr Martin Hayden, for Roches Stores, that one of the tables was wobbly and moved as she sat down.
He said this was the first time the question of a wobbly table had come up. She could not say why, after the accident, she had told her solicitor someone had bumped into her.
Mr Hayden told her a member of staff would say she had admitted pulling the tray down on herself. Another would say the tray was only partly on the table and toppled over when she lifted something off it.
He told her there would be evidence that the tables in the Roches Stores cafeteria had been secured in concrete to the floor for the past 10 years.
When Judge Groarke suggested, to counsel that the parties might usefully engage in talks, the action was adjourned. A short time later he was told the proceedings could be struck out with no further order.