THE FAMILY of a six-year-old girl who died in a fire at a corporation house in Sligo have secured €115,000 in settlement of their High Court action alleging Sligo Borough Council had negligently failed to maintain a safe electrical system in the house.
The settlement is without any admission of liability by the council.
Philomena Jinks (51), a mother of three, of Chapel Hill, Sligo, had brought the proceedings on behalf of her family over the death of Sarah Jinks on January 10th, 1999.
Sarah died in a fire at the house at St Edward’s Terrace where the family was living with Ms Jinks’s two brothers while they waited for a new home to be built. The court heard the child’s father, Frank Jinks, had gone back into the flames and smoke in two failed attempts to rescue his daughter and had received extensive burns to his face, neck, back and left arm.
The case opened on Tuesday but after talks yesterday between the sides, Luan Ó Braonain SC, for the council, told Mr Justice Vivian Lavan the matter had been settled.
The council denied claims by Ms Jinks the house was in an “appalling condition” and that the council caused or permitted dangerous electrical wiring to remain on the premises when they knew, or should have known, that constituted a dangerous and flammable hazard.
Ms Jinks claimed the council failed to respond with sufficient thoroughness to complaints about dangers in the house, particularly water penetration allied to the electrical situation.
She contended the fire was caused by water and dampness around the fuse board but that was disputed.
After yesterday’s settlement, Damien Tansey, solicitor for the Jinks family, said they had had a very difficult 10 years since the death of Sarah. While the settlement represented some closure, the family would never forget Sarah, he said.