Woman who claimed she was hurt as pupil in schoolyard fall loses case

High Court judge Mr Justice Paul Coffey noted 'inconsistencies and inaccuracies' in the complainant's evidence

The judge said a 'fundamental inconsistency'  remained between the two narratives presented to the court. Stock picture

A High Court judge has thrown out a case brought by a young woman over injuries suffered when she tripped in a schoolyard 10 years ago.

In May 2015, Amanda Shakira Dinnegan was racing several of her classmates after the lunchtime bell rang at Loughegar National School when she fell, fracturing her elbow.

Ms Dinnegan, age 19, of Cloghan, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, sued the school’s board of management for damages arising from the accident.

She claimed she was wrongfully caused or permitted by the school to come into contact with a raised steel grating in a concrete footpath, causing her to fall and injure herself. The school denied liability on several grounds.

'Inconsistencies and inaccuracies'

In a published judgment, Mr Justice Paul Coffey dismissed Ms Dinnegan’s case, after he found she did not trip on the grating. In making his finding, the judge noted “inconsistencies and inaccuracies” in Ms Dinnegan’s evidence.

Mr Justice Coffey said Ms Dinnegan did not offer a satisfactory explanation for the “fundamental shift” in her description of how the accident occurred.

Her case, from when she brought the proceedings in 2017 to mid-2018, was that she was tripped by another child while running.

Ms Dinnegan later changed her account, alleging that she tripped on the raised drainage grating.

She attempted to explain this shift by her confusion in the aftermath of the accident, and initial presumption that she’d been tripped by another child. She also made references to her age and emotional state at the time in seeking to explain the change, the judge noted.

The judge said a “fundamental inconsistency” remained between the two narratives. 

No clear or convincing explanation was given as to why, if she has always believed the grating to be responsible, that version was not asserted until more than three years after the incident.

 Ms Dinnegan had pleaded that as a result of her injuries, she had to give up certain activities that she enjoyed, including boxing.

When during cross-examination the school produced a newspaper article reporting that she had won a Leinster boxing title in 2017, she said she’d competed in the event, but had “forgotten all about it”, the judge noted.

The judge also noted the evidence of Mary Kenny, an SNA who was present in the schoolyard when the accident occurred, who said that on the day in question, she pointed out to the school’s principal where Ms Dinnegan had fallen. This location was some distance away from the grating complained of by Ms Dinnegan.

The judge noted that Ms Kenny’s evidence was supported by CCTV.

“Taken cumulatively, the evidence of Ms Kenny, its consistency with the CCTV footage, and the plaintiff’s inconsistencies and inaccuracies in relation to both core and peripheral matters, lead me to find as a fact that the plaintiff’s fall was not caused by contact with the allegedly defective grating,” Mr Justice Coffey said.

The judge said he found as fact that the fall occurred “without any identifiable external cause”.

He also said he was satisfied the fall occurred in the course of “ordinary children’s play”, and was “incidental to typical schoolyard activity which ... does not give rise to any liability on the part of the school”.

In light of his findings, the judge dismissed the case.