A YOUNG girl who suffered post-traumatic stress after a bicycle crashed to the ground in front of her in a toyshop when she was two has been awarded €10,000 in damages.
David Staunton told the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin yesterday that Katie Campbell narrowly escaped physical injury when the bike had fallen directly in her path from a shelf 14 feet above her.
He said Katie, now aged almost six, had been with her father, John Campbell, Foxbrook, Ratoath, Co Meath, in October, 2007, browsing in Smyths Toys shop in the Airside Retail Park, Swords, Co Dublin, when the incident happened.
Mr Staunton told Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery that the bicycle had not struck Katie but she had afterwards shown signs of anxiety and had suffered nightmares.
He told the court her GP had referred her to consultant child psychologist Andrew Conway.
Mr Conway, on the basis of symptoms including hypersensitivity to noise such as thunderstorms, fire crackers, cars backfiring and an unwillingness to engage with other children, diagnosed her as having suffered a moderate post-traumatic reaction.
Mr Justice Deery, who heard that Mr Campbell, a social worker, had been unable to attend court with his daughter yesterday, approved a €10,000 settlement offer by Smyths Toys Ltd and costs.