The High Court has set aside a Circuit Court order dismissing Stephen Doyle’s personal injuries proceedings over an alleged injury at Mountjoy Prison, allowing the claim to proceed to a full hearing subject to a three-month deadline for serving notice of trial.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons ruled on 26 March 2021 that the plaintiff’s delay was both inordinate and inexcusable. However, he found the defendants had not produced admissible evidence showing that the delay had caused likely prejudice or created a substantial risk that a fair trial would be impossible.
The claim concerns an incident on 11 December 2011. Mr Doyle alleges that he suffered lacerations from the sharp edge of a broken safety bar while climbing down from his bunk. The proceedings were brought against the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Ireland and the Attorney General.
A personal injuries summons was issued in March 2014. After initial steps in the case, the judgment identified long periods of inactivity, including from March 2014 to August 2017 and from November 2017 to May 2020. In November 2017, the defendants had agreed to provide documents in three of four requested categories and proposed narrowing the fourth. The plaintiff’s side did not respond, the judge said. He rejected the explanations offered for the delay, including the plaintiff’s limited means and a period of detention in 2018.
The defendants argued that the bunk bed had been disposed of, potentially impairing their ability to defend the claim. The judge said the evidence about when the bed became unidentifiable and when the beds were removed was unsatisfactory, relying on a short affidavit from a solicitor without direct knowledge. The judgment also noted that the prison authorities had actual notice of the incident, that the plaintiff’s pleadings said the bed was replaced after the incident, and that the defendants had agreed to provide an accident report and contemporaneous witness statements through discovery.
The judge concluded that the defendants had not established that delay caused them to lose an opportunity to examine or preserve the bed. He said the case would turn on the bunk bed’s condition, rather than conflicting witness recollections. The Circuit Court’s dismissal was set aside. If the plaintiff does not serve a notice of trial within three months of the judgment, the defendants may renew their application to dismiss.
The plaintiff was awarded the costs of the dismissal motion, including costs in the Circuit Court and reserved costs. Those costs are to be measured if not agreed, and execution of the costs order is stayed until the proceedings are determined.