Bits of girl’s flesh speared on toy rake after accident

BITS of a three-year-old child’s flesh were speared on the prongs of a toy rake following an accident at her creche, a judge heard yesterday.

The Circuit Civil Court was told that little Aoife Cullen’s mother, Catherine, saw the gruesome aftermath of a fall by her daughter in the Chuckleberries Creche at Westmanstown, Clonsilla, Dublin, seven years ago.

Barrister Barney Quirke said Mrs Cullen, of Elm Close, Lucan, Co Dublin, had just delivered Aoife, now 10, to the creche, which is owned by Tree Tops Day Nursery Ltd.

Mr Quirke told Judge Jacqueline Linnane that Aoife had suffered a significant laceration through to the bone of her lower left leg and there had been a great deal of bleeding.

“An ambulance was called and Aoife was rushed to hospital where she had to undergo surgical repairs under general anaesthetic,” Mr Quirke said.

He told the court the doctor had wanted to see the implement that had caused the injury and Mrs Cullen had returned to the creche to get the toy rake involved and had been given a different rake. She was emphatic it was a broken blue rake that had been responsible but had been handed a smaller undamaged pink plastic rake.

Mr Quirke said he estimated the full value of damages for Aoife’s injury to be in the region of €21,000 and, on the basis of a denial of liability and a serious dispute as to which rake had been involved, Aoife had been made a settlement offer of €7,500 and costs.

He told Judge Linnane he appreciated there was an element of risk in losing on liability and Aoife ending up with nothing and he was recommending approval of the settlement offer.

Mr Quirke said medical reports revealed that Aoife suffered from a skin condition which made her skin and flesh more easily injured and prone to heavy bleeding. It was part of the creche’s defence that had there not been such a skin condition there would have been little or no injury.

The judge approved acceptance of the settlement offer.