The High Court has dismissed Andrew Larkin’s personal injuries claim against Carlingford Community Development Company over a fall while playing indoor football at the Foy Centre in Carlingford on 12 July 2016.
Mr Justice David Keane found that Mr Larkin had not proved, on the balance of probabilities, that sticky residue was present where he fell or that any substance there was leftover adhesive tape caused by, or not properly removed by, the company. The judge said the company, as occupier, owed visitors a duty to take reasonable care, including reasonable steps to prevent sticky residue on the sports hall floor. The claim failed because the evidence did not establish the alleged cause or the company’s responsibility for it.
Mr Larkin said his left foot stopped suddenly on residue as he tried to change direction, causing him to fall. He alleged negligence in allowing the substance to remain or failing to warn him. The company denied the claim and pleaded that he had been involved in a tackle and had failed to take appropriate care, including by not allowing for the floor’s condition.
The judge accepted that Mr Larkin suffered a serious injury in the hall. He fractured the upper part of his left shinbone near the knee and ruptured the posterior cruciate ligament. He spent six weeks in a cast, returned to firefighting duties in September 2016 on light duties, and was back in active service by the time of a February 2019 medical report. He still had some pain and stiffness, but was expected to recover fully, subject to a risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
Mr Larkin testified that he saw residue after the fall. A witness to the game did not see a tackle or contact, while another player described Mr Larkin as coming off worse as he and an opponent went for the ball. Neither witness gave evidence about residue on the floor. The judge said the disagreement about whether a tackle occurred was immaterial to the central question of what caused the fall.
Photographs taken by Mr Larkin in July or August 2016 and January 2017 showed what appeared to be duct tape on another part of the floor. His engineer said adhesive residue could significantly change the floor’s friction. But the judge noted that the photographed strip was not where the fall occurred and that no tape fragments or marks were visible during a 2019 inspection.
The judge also relied on evidence that fitness instructor Marie Higgins regularly inspected the floor and had never found sticky residue, and that temporary carpeting had not been installed between December 2015 and a concert on 6 August 2016. He concluded that Mr Larkin was more likely to have taken the first photograph after that concert, weakening the proposed link between the photographed tape and the alleged residue in July.
Mr Larkin said he had spoken to committee chairman John McKevitt about the accident within weeks. The judge preferred Mr McKevitt’s evidence that he first learned of it through a solicitor’s letter in February 2017. The delay, the judge said, meant an opportunity to investigate the cause promptly was lost. He dismissed the claim.