Teresa Wall denies conflicting account in Wicklow fall appeal
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
Teresa Wall denied giving a different account of her Wicklow Way fall during a High Court hearing before Justice Michael White. She was giving evidence on the second day of the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s appeal against a negligence finding and €40,000 damages award. The proceedings were reported on 24 November 2016.
The accident occurred around 4pm on 6 August 2013 while Wall and her husband were descending the mountain. Wall said her foot snagged in a hole in an old railway sleeper forming the boardwalk near the JB Malone memorial, on the Sally Gap to Djouce trail near Roundwood. She said a gash to her right knee required seven stitches.
In April 2016, Judge Jacqueline Linnane at Dublin Circuit Court awarded Wall €40,000 damages plus her legal costs. The judge said the boardwalk comprised badly rotted, second-hand wooden railway sleepers. The report said reasonable care had not been taken to maintain it safely and that this failure caused the injuries.
Under cross-examination, Wall accepted speaking to NPWS employees on 14 August. She denied telling Enda Mullen that she had tripped on chicken wire, could not travel to Slovakia because of her injuries, or had asked the NPWS about compensation. Wall accepted calling the State Claims Agency that same date because she wanted to know where she stood. She said she was taking painkillers, antibiotics and valium at the time, and had contacted the NPWS over risks to other walkers.
Mullen testified that an upset Wall told her on 14 August that she had tripped on wire, rather than mentioning a hole, and that she recorded the details on an accident form. Under cross-examination, Mullen said she sent a ranger to the location. The report said the ranger found no hazardous wire. Mullen rejected the suggestion that the visit reflected an obligation towards Wall, saying it was routine practice.
The High Court appeal remained ongoing, with the hearing due to continue on Friday.