A HIGH Court judge has warned of the dangers and legal obligations surrounding refuse skips after a young man died of his injuries when his moped hit a skip with a metal pole protruding from it.
Penny Smith, mother of Daniel Smith (23), a father of two, Moatview Drive, Coolock, Dublin, brought a legal action over the death of her son, which occurred in darkness at about 6.50am on February 16th, 2005.
The action is against Dean Waste Company Limited, trading as A1 Waste; which provided the skip; David Kenny, trading as DJK building and property maintenance contractors, who were carrying out works at a house at Lorcan Avenue, Santry, Dublin, and William Stephens, owner of the house.
Yesterday, Paul Coffey SC, for Ms Smith, told Mr Justice Lavan the action against Mr Stephens was settled for €125,000 but the case was proceeding against the other two defendants.
Both those defendants have denied liability and after a day-long hearing and continuing dispute between the remaining defendants concerning certain issues, Mr Justice Lavan listed the case for mention on July 28th.
If the matter was not resolved by then, the judge said he wanted the necessary documents from the defendants delivered to him.
The judge said this was a very important and complex case.
Among the issues raised was whether Dean Waste failed to comply with the Dublin City Council bylaws on skips and failed to remove the skip from the highway in circumstances where they knew or ought reasonably to have known it constituted a trap, a nuisance or a danger to motorists.
DJK claim Dean Waste failed to provide any adequate warning signs for use with the skip.