A six-year-old schoolgirl who injured herself in a fall while her class was being supervised by two 11-year-old prefects, has won €22,500 damages for personal injuries from the school.
Judge Joseph Matthews heard in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday there was no teacher available to supervise the senior infants class at Whitechurch National School on the day the accident occurred.
Mr John Doherty, counsel for Rachel Motyer, who is now aged nine, of Woodfield, Scholarstown Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, told the court that two senior girls had been left in charge and some of the children were using coloured toy bricks to construct a snake on the classroom floor. Rachel had slipped on one of the bricks and had struck the side of her face against a desk.
Rachel was joined by her twin sister, Gillian, in outlining how the accident had occurred. The snake had become so long that it was being built by the children under desks and chairs in the room. As she moved from under a desk she had slipped and hit the side of her face.
Judge Matthews said Ms Joyce Perdue, principal of the school in Whitechurch Road, Rathfarnham, had stated honestly in evidence that had she been in charge of the class she would not have allowed the activity of snake-building to continue under the desks and chairs.
She had also stated she would not in normal circumstances allow children aged 11 to supervise infant juniors.
The judge said Rachel had been left with a scar on her cheek which had caused trauma and distress. The award will be lodged in court funds until she is 18.