A judge has approved a €51,000 damages award to a five-year-old child who was knocked down by a motor cyclist on a pedestrian crossing in Dublin.
Judge Terence O’Sullivan heard in the Circuit Civil Court today that in October 2019 Ugne Rudnickaite had been knocked unconscious and suffered bone breakages in her left hand and shoulder.
He was told that Ugne, of The Courtyard, Friar’s Hill, in Wicklow Town, had been on the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Talbot Street and Gardiner Street, Dublin, when hit by the motorbike.
Barrister David Burke said Ugne, who celebrated her eighth birthday just before Christmas last, had been rushed by ambulance from the scene of the accident to the emergency department at Temple Street Childrens Hospital where X-rays had revealed the extent of her bone injuries.
She had been detained in hospital for four days and had been off school for six weeks while recovering from her injuries.
Medical reports revealed that Ugne had also suffered a serious head injury requiring critical care and had been on medication for three months. Mr Burke said she had fully recovered and the insurers of the defendant Tim Colla, Claude Road, Dumcondra, Dublin, had offered a settlement of €51,000 to include €11,000 for hospital care and medical expenses.
Judge O’Sullivan directed that €11,000 be paid out to McGuigan Solicitors, Bellturbet, Co Cavan, to meet Ugne’s hospital and medical bills.