Boy, 2, stuck for 40 minutes after fall down 9m shaft

A TWO-YEAR-OLD child fell about 9m down a shaft in a multi-storey car park and was trapped for 40 minutes as his helpless parents tried to comfort him, a court heard yesterday.

Barrister Patrick Purcell told the Circuit Civil Court that Mr and Mrs Stephen Boyce, parents of Ben Boyce, were able to hear their son after he fell down the shaft from the second floor of the car park, but could not see him.

Mr Purcell said the circumstances of the accident on February 2, 2009, were unusual.

Ben had been with his parents shopping in Drogheda, Co Louth, and all three had returned to the Scotch Hall Shopping Centre car park in Marsh Road.

While the couple were putting their shopping into their car, Ben stepped backwards and fell through a gap in casing that surrounded one of the support columns on the second floor of the car park.

“He plummeted 25 to 30 feet down through the cavity around the column and was trapped for upwards of 40 minutes,” said Mr Purcell.

He said firemen were immediately called and were able to break a hole in the column casing at ground level to rescue Ben.

Mr Purcell said Ben, who was two months short of his third birthday, suffered damage to his teeth but his primary injuries related to the anxiety he had to endure until his rescue.

While Ben, now 5, had made a good recovery he was still very nervous, still suffered from anxiety and did not like being left on his own in a room.

Ben sued John Sisk and Son Ltd, the international construction company which has its headquarters in Dublin, through his father, who is a member of An Garda Síochána.

Mr Purcell said the Personal Injuries Assessment Board had assessed damages at €16,500 with €1,355, but he was not recommending approval of the figure to the court.

Judge Deery rejected the assessment and said he would adjourn the matter for assessment by the court.