A Dublin woman has been awarded nearly €28,000 in damages by the Circuit Civil Court after she fell off the toilet in her home.
The 61-year-old was left injured at her home in Shankill. According to reports, Isabela O’Sullivan fell off her toilet in fright after a tile crashed down off the wall.
The large tile, which weighed almost three kilos, broke the toilet seat as it fell off the wall.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane said that Ms O’Sullivan fell forward in fright and injured her right knee after she caught the movement of the tile falling from the corner of her eye.
It is stated that Ms O’Sullivan had only had her bathroom re-tiled weeks before the accident and thus sued contractor Neil Kelly of Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Mr Kelly, who had employed a tiler to carry out the work on the house, denied responsibility for the workmanship, however, reports state that forensic engineer Barry Tennyson told the judge that the incident had happened as a result of ‘poor workmanship’.
The judge accepted Ms O’Sullivan’s detailing of what had happened and awarded her €25,000 damages for pain and suffering plus an additional €2,500 to replace the tiles in the bathroom. An extra €350 was awarded for expenses.
