A YOUNG girl who suffered "considerable trauma" when she fell from the first floor window of a Dublin Corporation house has been awarded £23,200 damages.
Mr Timothy Sheehan, counsel for Kelly Ann McElroy (7), of Allanton Avenue, Tallaght, told the Circuit Civil Court she had been sitting on the window sill in a neighbour's playroom and the window had opened when she leaned against it.
Judge Harvey Kenny heard that Kelly Ann was four when the accident happened. He was told the corporation conceded that the horizontal stay along the base of the window frame was defective.
Mr John McDonagh, for the corporation, said the main vertical side clasp was functional and engineers for both parties agreed that if this had been secured the accident would not have occurred. The question was whether the girl, or one of the children she was playing with, opened the window.
Corporation witnesses conceded in cross examination that although the side clasp was functional it had been replaced following the accident.
Mr Sheehan said agreed medical reports revealed that Kelly Ann had suffered a broken pelvis and head and dental injuries as well as considerable post traumatic stress.
Judge Kenny awarded Kelly Ann £23,200 damages and granted a stay in the event of an appeal to the High Court.
Earlier yesterday Judge Diarmuid Sheridan rejected a £2,500 settlement offer from the Corporation. As a result of his knowledge of the offer he was unable to hear the action and the ease was transferred to Judge Kenny.