A girl who was knocked down and hit her head when the door of a church confession box fell on her during mass has settled a High Court action for €25,000.
Zofia Adamczyk was two years old when the confessional door – which, it was claimed, was unhinged − fell on her, trapping her underneath.
Her counsel, Robert Beatty SC, with Mark Doyle BL, told the High Court the girl had been attending mass with her mother when the incident happened at Oblates Church of Mary Immaculate, Inchicore, Dublin, 14 years ago.
Counsel said the door to the confession box weighed about 15kg and it was a “traumatising incident” for the child.
Some men had to lift the door off the child, who had also struck her head on the stump of a decorative Christmas tree. A section of the church was under renovation at the time.
Ms Adamczyk (16) of Saggart, Co Dublin had, through her father Andrzej Adamczyk, sued Fr Oliver Barry over the accident on March 4th, 2011.
It was claimed that the door to the confessional fell on top of the toddler after she allegedly tried to open it.
It was claimed there was an alleged failure to take any or any adequate precaution for the child’s safety and there was an alleged failure to take any reasonable care to ensure she would be reasonably safe whilst in the church.
It was further contended that there was an alleged failure to ensure that adequate warnings or signs were in place around the confessional while it was under renovation.
Counsel told the court he did not think liability was an issue but causation was at issue in the case.
The little girl was later diagnosed as suffering from head pain and she had bumps to her head, along with some restriction in side-to-side movement, bruising and tenderness. She later had panic attacks and claustrophobia which, it was claimed, had a severe impact on her daily life.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he was satisfied, considering the difficulties in relation to causation in the case, that the offer was fair and reasonable.
