Boy ‘stopped talking’ after finger trapped in door, court told

A judge in the Circuit Civil Court has refused to approve a €28,000 damages settlement offer to a seven-year-old autistic schoolboy who “stopped talking” after his left index finger was trapped in a door at a Dublin leisure centre.

Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said he would require further medical evidence to establish whether there was a connection between the accident and the fact that Cillian Clarke had become non-verbal.

The court heard that in December 2011, Cillian, who was two-years-old at the time, had been in the play area at Leisureplex, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Dublin, when a member of staff closed a security gate on his left hand.

Barrister Aideen Keane, who appeared with solicitors Tiernan and Company for Cillian, said he had been taken to Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin, where X-ray revealed a fracture to his finger which had burst open and which required surgery.

The court on Tuesday heard Cillian stopped talking two months after the accident. His mother, Sarah Jane Walsh, told the court that she believed the accident had a “huge effect” on Cillian’s ability to speak.

Ms Walsh said Cillian was verbal before the accident and had been expected to continue so but although he had the necessary vocabulary, something was preventing him from talking.

Cillian, of Sandyford View, Blackglen Road, Sandyford, Dublin, sued Leisureplex Blanchardstown Ltd for negligence, through his mother Sarah Jane.

The judge, hearing that a €28,233 damages settlement offer had been made by the defendant, said he was satisfied the offer would be sufficient to compensate Cillian regarding his physical injury.

Judge Groarke said he had to consider Ms Walsh’s opinion and if a connection was made between the accident and Cillian’s loss of speech, which, the court had heard, doctors had not been able to attribute, “it would then be a totally different case.”

The judge adjourned the case to a date in June to allow further medical evidence.