Girl gets €20,000 for being struck by mini-bus wing mirror

A 14-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl who was struck on the head by the wing mirror of a passing mini-bus has been awarded €20,000 damages.

Barrister Kevin Healy told the Circuit Civil Court that Megan, of Glasnevin Avenue, Glasnevin, Dublin, was crossing on a pedestrian walkway outside her school, St Brigid’s, Old Finglas Road, on March 9, 2007.

Mr Healy told Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery that Megan, who was 12 at the time, had been knocked unconscious as she fell back, striking her head on the road.

He said she had been rushed to the Children’s University Hospital in Temple Street, Dublin, where she had been X-rayed and treated for laceration on the right side of her forehead and bruising on her right knee.

Mr Healy told the court that Megan had suffered some scarring just under the hairline on her forehead but a plastic surgeon’s report had described them as insignificant. Only a very faint scar was visible from close examination and did not present a cosmetic deformity.

He said the minibus had been driven by James Byrne and owned by Damien Byrne, the defendants in the case, both of Beneadin Park, Finglas, Dublin, for whom insurers had accepted a Personal Injuries Assessment Board recommendation of €19,000 for general damages and €994 application fees.

Judge Deery approved the settlement and awarded Megan’s mother, Marina Ledden, legal costs of the proceedings.