Ray Managh
A judge has approved a €48,000 settlement offer for a child who lost a milk tooth and suffered two small cuts to her upper lip while playing in a shopping complex.
When Judge James McCourt heard in the Circuit Civil Court today that there had been a suggestion plastic surgery might improve the cosmetic appearance of the injuries he said if the child was his there would be no such procedure.
Barrister Pat Purcell, counsel for 12-year-old Vanessa Serebrjakova, told the judge that when the girl was only 21 months old and playing on a mat in The Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords, Co Dublin, she tripped and fell against an escalator.
Mr Purcell, who appeared with Hennessy and Perrozzi solicitors for the girl and her father Kaspars Serebrjanova, of Castleview Walk, Swords, said she had struck her face against one of the steps on the escalator. One of her front teeth had been knocked out and her upper lip had been cut in two places.
Appearance
He said that a year after the accident a consultant paediatrician at Temple Street Children’s Hospital noted the wounds had healed well and that Vanessa had two small linear scars on her upper lip. While they would fade with time they would remain permanent.
When Mr Purcell said it had been suggested that scar revision surgery might help improve the cosmetic appearance of the injuries, Judge McCourt said that if the child was his daughter there would be no such surgical procedure.
Mr Purcell said the company had been sued for negligence in that it had failed to properly fence off the play area which, it was claimed, had been placed in an unsafe and unsuitable position close to an escalator.
Judge McCourt approved a settlement offer of €48,000 to include special damages and expenses of €1,100 together with Circuit Court costs.
