Baby scalded by coffee in hotel after pot placed in ‘precarious position’, High Court hears

A six-year-old boy has sued in the High Court claiming he was scalded as a baby when he pulled a coffee pot from a hotel table on top of himself.

Daniel Jack Dugan, of The Beeches, Killinchy, Co Down, was on a mini-break with his family at the Clarion Hotel in Liffey Valley, Dublin, when the incident happened in July 2016. At issue in the case is where on the hotel breakfast table the coffee pot was placed.

The claimants say the coffee was placed in a precarious position at the table’s edge within the baby’s reach. The hotel, which denies the claims, contends the pot was put in the middle of the table.

Further, the hotel says, if the baby suffered an injury this was due to an unfortunate accident and was not the result of any alleged negligence by it or its staff.

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Opening the case, Daniel’s counsel, Micheál Ó Scanaill SC with Clodagh Brick BL, said the baby was just shy of six-months-old at the time of the incident. He said Daniel was in his buggy at the breakfast table.

Counsel said coffee was ordered by the parents and some members of the family went to get breakfast from a buffet. When the others returned, Daniel’s mother went to the buffet and was on her way back to the table when she saw the baby pull the coffee pot on top of himself.

“He was scalded from top to bottom by the coffee, from shoulder to arm to flank,” counsel said. Medicial staff later said burns covered about 10 per cent of his body afterwards.

Daniel has through his mother, Lynsey Willis, sued Kingsoak Taverns Ltd with offices at Morrisons Island, Cork city and trading as the Clarion Hotel as a result of the accident at the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley, Dublin on July 14th, 2016.

Failure to manage

It was claimed there was a failure to manage or operate a safe hotel or breakfast room environment and the coffee was placed in an inherently dangerous manner. All the claims are denied, and the hotel says the coffee pot was not placed in a precarious position.

The baby sustained burns to the shoulder, chest and thigh and was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was given intravenous fluids and dressings.

In evidence, Ms Willis said she was returning from the breakfast buffet and had placed her plate down when she saw Daniel’s hand pulling the coffee pot down on him. She said her partner who was at the table was feeding their toddler.

“I could not get to it in time. It came down over the top of him. I picked him up and began running,” she said.

She said her son was screaming in pain and she peeled off his clothes and that he screamed for hours afterward.

Cross-examined by counsel for the hotel, David Nolan SC, Ms Willis said she never saw the waiter. She said she later asked her partner to ask about witnesses and CCTV.

The case before Mr Justice Michael Hanna continues on Friday.