A STUDENT has been awarded €7,000 damages for what a High Court judge described as “a very mild injury” suffered when her dodgem car was struck by another in Bundoran, Co Donegal.
The court was told Róisín Harkin, now aged 22, suffered her injuries as a result of being struck by a “rogue driver” going the wrong way during the dodgem car ride in July 2004.
Ms Harkin claimed she was struck head-on by another car driven by two youths who were “messing”. She claimed she was wearing a seat belt while driving her dodgem car, was pushed into the corner of it by the impact and hit her head off the pole providing electric power for the car.
A language student, of Croagh, Dunkineely, Co Donegal, Ms Harkin alleged negligence against Bundoran Adventure Park Limited, trading as Harrisons Amusements, the Sea Front, Bundoran. The defendant denied the claims.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Daniel Herbert said the issue was whether the manoeuvre was carried out by the two teenagers and there was no evidence to the contrary. He did not accept the incident had happened so quickly it could not have been stopped.
For some reason, whoever was in charge had not seen these two boys, the judge said. He found the youths had deliberately gone in the opposite direction from the other cars; deliberately targeted Ms Harkin in her car and deliberately collided with her head-on at full power.
“This is what teenage boys will do and this is why there are people there to look out for them,” the judge said.
He found Ms Harkin suffered a very mild injury which affected her neck and an area of her shoulder. He said he was satisfied this injury had totally resolved itself within nine months of the accident.
He awarded her €7,000 in damages for pain, suffering and inconvenience and also awarded costs at the Circuit Court scale but for one senior counsel only.