A former stable hand who claimed he suffered severe back injuries after being thrown from a young horse while working for trainer Dermot Weld has lost his High Court action for damages.
Mr Justice Richard Johnson yesterday ruled that Anthony Morley (27) had failed to establish a case of negligence and he dismissed the action.
Mr Morley, St Ronan's Close, Clondalkin, Dublin, had sued Mr Weld and Moyglare Stud Ltd, with registered offices at Moyglare Stud, Co Kildare, over the alleged accident of January 24th, 1995. He was 17 at that time and claimed he suffered back injuries after being thrown from a horse while cantering on an exercise gallop. Mr Morley said the horse had stopped completely and swung around and he had hit a wooden railing as he fell.
Mr Morley claimed that, as a result of the accident, he was admitted to James Connolly Memorial Hospital with severe pain in the midline of the central back. He was discharged on January 28th, 1995, and was advised to continue in his spinal brace for at least eight weeks.
He claimed the defendants were negligent in causing him to break in a young horse who was particularly temperamental. He also alleged they were negligent in allowing wooden railings to be positioned around the gallop in a manner which was unsafe and dangerous.
After dismissing the claim yesterday, the judge indicated he would make no order as to costs if an application for the costs of the two-day hearing is not made by the defendants in the case by next week. If no order for costs is made, that means each side will bear their own costs.
In his decision, the judge said that riding thoroughbred racehorses can be a dangerous business in many respects but many aspects were more dangerous than others. Riding in line was not regarded as anything unusual or dangerous, he said.
He said the only matter alleged against the defendants was that railings around the gallop should not have been made of wood and that a "body armour" jacket should have been provided. Mr Morley's claim related to the situation in 1995 and standards, rules and laws had changed dramatically from that time.
The judge said it was quite clear that a debate regarding whether plastic or wooden railings should be used had been going on for a considerable length of time and the expert evidence to the court was that only 5 per cent of those involved with horses wore body armour in 1995.
The question was whether the evidence had established that a prudent employer at the time ought to have provided plastic railings and body armour. He ruled the evidence had not established that, in 1995, it would have been regarded as negligent not to have provided these facilities.
