Courts

Woman (52) sues local council over fall in children’s playground

Inga Mitchell claims council was negligent by requiring her to cross slippery area without suitable grip

Playground was built by a leading provider of these facilities and had won an award from an Irish landscapers association, court hears
Playground was built by a leading provider of these facilities and had won an award from an Irish landscapers association, court hears
Tue Dec 17 2024 - 18:06

A woman who fell and broke her leg when descending an artificially created mound in a children’s playground has sued her local council in the High Court.

Inga Mitchell (52), an accountant of Esker Manor, Lucan, Co Dublin, sued South Dublin County Council over the accident in Griffeen Valley Park on August 7th, 2017.

She told her senior council, Richard Lyons, instructed by Elizabeth Howard & Co Solicitors, that she had gone to the top of the mound to help a neighbour’s child who she was looking after and on the way back down she slipped and fell on the surface on the mound.

She claims the defendant was negligent by requiring her to traverse an excessively steep and slippy area without appropriate grip. She also alleges there was a failure to inspect and maintain the area.

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The court heard she broke her tibia and was in a cast for two months.

The defendant denies the claims and said the playground had only been open for about four weeks before the incident.

It had undergone rigorous assessment and was subjected to daily inspections by council staff, a weekly closer inspection, and a quarterly expert risk assessment, the council said.

The playground was built by a leading provider of these facilities and had won an award from an Irish landscapers association, the court heard.

Under cross-examination by Elaine Morgan SC, instructed by Clara Cassidy of Hayes McGrath solicitors, Ms Mitchell said she did not think it would be dangerous coming back down the slope but she was mainly concentrating on helping the five-year-old child of her neighbour as she was worried about him coming down.

Counsel put it to her there were safer options to take to get down. She replied that she did not think about that at that moment.

Counsel also said these kinds of play areas “are of the very nature of what we want to provide for our children” and if her accident was caused by negligence on the council’s part “we would have no play areas at all”.

The case continues before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart.