A DISTRAUGHT mother of three wept at the High Court yesterday while describing events surrounding the death of her six-year-old daughter in a fire at their council home in Sligo.
Philomena Jinks claims the fire in which her daughter Sarah died 10 years ago started at a fuse box in their home at St Edward's Terrace, Sligo. That claim is disputed by Sligo Borough Council.
Ms Jinks claims the house was in an "appalling condition" and the council caused or permitted dangerous electrical wiring to remain on the premises when it knew, or should have known, that this constituted a dangerous and flammable hazard.
She claims the council failed to respond with sufficient thoroughness to complaints about dangers in the house, particularly water penetration allied to the electrical situation.
Her counsel John Hennessy SC, with Gerard Clarke SC, said the house was substantially destroyed in the fire and it was impossible to determine with any certainty what the cause was. Ms Jinks contended it started at the fuse board but that was disputed.
Ms Jinks (58), of Chapel Hill, Sligo, brought the case following the death of her daughter on Sunday, January 10th, 1999 from carbon monoxide poisoning due to inhalation of noxious gases.
Ms Jinks' husband Frank had made two failed attempts to rescue his daughter and received extensive burns to his face, neck, back and left arm.
Yesterday, Ms Jinks told Mr Justice Vivian Lavan she and her family moved into her former family home at St Edward's Terrace in September 1998 with her two brothers Val and John as she and her husband had sold their own home and were waiting for a new house to be built.
The house was in an appalling condition with water running down the wall in the hall. There were also problems with a fuse box and a trip switch would go on and off. When the TV went on, the kettle went off, and there were black rings around one of the sockets.
She complained to Sligo Corporation for the first time on September 25th, 1998. An official came out from the North Western Health Board and condemned the house. The wallpaper was peeling off the wall, there was mould in the bedroom and floorboards were rotted. An electrician came out but wiring problems continued and she complained again because water kept coming down the wall.
Ms Jinks broke down as she described trying to leave the house with her husband, her two-year-old son Philip, Sarah, and her daughter Breege, then aged eight. She said the banisters were in flames and when they eventually got to the bottom, she discovered Sarah was at the top of the stairs and Mr Jinks tried to get to her.
"I wanted my daughter but she was gone," Ms Jinks said.
Cross examined by Luan Ó Braonain SC, for the council, Ms Jinks rejected his suggestion the house was not in as poor a condition as she suggested or that she had not made complaints about the fuse box. She agreed her brother Val smoked but added he did so in the kitchen.
Mr Ó Braonain said Val had stated that he was out drinking until 1am on the night in question and came home with a number of cans of beer. Ms Jinks said: "No, he was with me until I went to bed." The hearing continues today.