WHEN hiker Darren Guthrie fell down an open sewer manhole, he was trapped for more than an hour while rats played around his feet, the Dublin Circuit Civil Court has been told. Mr Guthrie, of Homelawn Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin, told his counsel, Mr Roughan Banim, that he had not seen the open manhole while hiking across a green near Oldcourt, Firhouse.
He said he was knocked unconscious and became wedged between debris and rocks which had been dumped into the sewer. His friend had been unable to pull him out and eventually he was rescued by Dublin Fire Brigade. After the fall he was amnaesiac in hospital while being treated for injuries to his neck and back. Judge Harvey Kenny awarded him £12,000 damages but reduced it by half on the grounds of contributory negligence. Mr Guthrie, he said, should have been keeping a closer look out. He granted Mr Colm P. Condon, counsel for Dublin Corporation, a stay to facilitate consideration of an appeal.