The High Court awarded a young man €145,700 after a finger on his dominant right hand was amputated in an accident at a five-a-side football pitch in Longwood, Co Meath. The court found the pitch occupier liable for failing to maintain slack ball-stop netting and to remove exposed steel projections from the fence. It made no finding of contributory negligence.
The accident happened on 5 August 2014 at Longwood G.A.A. Club. After a ball became trapped between the fence and netting, the plaintiff was lifted up the fence to retrieve it. As he descended, his ring caught on a vertical steel bar projecting above the fence, causing a severe injury. His middle finger was amputated at the proximal interphalangeal joint.
The plaintiff said no notices banning rings were in place at the time. The defence pleaded contributory negligence, relying on notices at the pitch entrance. The plaintiff’s engineer said the notices appeared fresh and showed no weathering during an April 2015 inspection. With no defence oral evidence about when they were put up, Mr Justice Barr accepted the plaintiff’s account and declined to find him contributorily negligent.
The court accepted that the risk was foreseeable. The engineering reports agreed that slack netting could trap balls and that players retrieving them could be injured by the fence projections. The judge found the defendant had failed to maintain the netting safely and that the fencing was unsuitable for the pitch. He concluded that the defendant had failed to provide the common duty of care owed to the plaintiff as a visitor.
The injury required three operations, including attaching the hand to a groin flap and later skin grafting. The plaintiff continued to experience pain and cold sensitivity, and the court found those symptoms likely to persist long term. It also accepted psychiatric evidence that he had suffered moderately severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The court noted an episode of self-harm in 2015 and subsequent improvement, while the prognosis reported at the time remained guarded and uncertain.
The plaintiff sought damages for reduced job-market opportunity, rather than a specific future loss-of-earnings award. The court did not make a substantial award under that heading, but allowed €20,000 for disadvantage in the general job market. It also considered the effect on his ability to play sports, which had been a major part of his life.
The award comprised €65,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity to date, €60,000 for future general damages, €20,000 for job-market opportunity loss and €700 in agreed special damages: €145,700 in total.