The High Court dismissed appeals by Kelly Hannon and Sarah Hannon over separate alleged falls on uncovered utility openings in Greenane Drive, Tipperary Town, and affirmed the Circuit Court orders dismissing their claims against Tipperary County Council. It also awarded costs against both plaintiffs, including High Court and Circuit Court costs.
Mr Justice Twomey heard the appeals together. The sisters alleged that they suffered soft tissue injuries after catching their right feet in uncovered openings, known in the judgment as shores. Kelly Hannon said she fell on 17 August 2015 while walking along the footpath. Sarah Hannon said she fell on 7 June 2016 while running after her two-year-old child, who had left the front garden through an open gate.
The judge found that Kelly Hannon would have seen the opening if she had been walking on the footpath and looking ahead. He concluded that her inattention, rather than negligence by the council, caused the alleged fall. He also found inconsistencies in her accounts of when the accident happened, when she saw her GP and how often she used the route. The judgment said her evidence about back pain and previous injuries was inconsistent with records and statements made to doctors. The judge concluded that she had not established that the accident happened as claimed, or at all.
In Sarah Hannon’s case, the judge found that her failure to keep the gate closed led her to run after her child without looking where she was going. He concluded that her inattention, rather than the uncovered opening, was the legal cause of the alleged fall. He also found inconsistencies in her evidence about her previous back injury and the injuries she attributed to the incident, and concluded that she had not proved the accident occurred as claimed, or at all.
The council presented actuarial evidence about other trip-and-fall claims involving members of the same family. The judge said that evidence was admissible to help assess the claims on the balance of probabilities, but stressed that the statistics were not determinative of either appeal. He relied on his findings about each sister’s account and the circumstances of the alleged falls.
The judgment identifies six claims by family members against the council over a period of years, most in or around Greenane. It does not make a finding that the plaintiffs committed fraud. The High Court’s decision was to dismiss the appeals and affirm the Circuit Court’s orders.