Month: January 2022

And finally… flushed with success

via Irish Legal News

https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/and-finally-flushed-with-success

An Italian couple have won a nearly two-decade-long court battle over their neighbour’s toilet flushing loudly in the night.

The couple, from La Spezia, launched the case in 2003 shortly after their neighbours installed a new bathroom adjacent to the couple’s bedroom.

The water tank from the new toilet was built into a wall just 22cm thick and located close to the head of the couple’s bed.

The matter went all the way to Italy’s Supreme Court, which this week found that the sound of flushing was three decibels over the legal limit, The Times reports.

The top court upheld the lower court’s ruling that the water tank must be moved and the couple paid €500 in compensation for every year since it was installed in 2003.

Man who slipped in porch of his council home after five pints of Guinness fails to prove local authority ‘in any way responsible’

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/man-who-slipped-in-porch-of-his-council-home-after-five-pints-of-guinness-fails-to-prove-local-authority-in-any-way-responsible-41261945.html

By Tim Healy

A man injured when he fell on the wet and slippery tiles in the porch of his rented council home has failed to prove the local authority was “in any way responsible” for the accident, the High Court has found.

Thomas Keegan (53), McNeil Drive, Cranmore, Co Sligo, was originally awarded €105,650 when his action against Sligo Co Council was determined at a sitting of the High Court in Sligo in 2017.

However, following an appeal, the Court of Appeal (CoA) ordered the issue of liability be retried.

Following the retrial, Mr Justice John Jordan found it was “artificial” for Mr Keegan to suggest he was a visitor of the council-owned house in Cranmore which he rented and occupied.

Mr Keegan, who previously worked as a paver, claimed the slippiness of the porch’s terracotta tiling and the angle of the porch to face the prevailing wind and rain in Sligo created a particular hazard.

It was alleged the open porch was constantly exposed to being wet and that this exacerbated the problem caused by the slippy mosaic tiles.

In the original hearing before Mr Justice Anthony Barr in Sligo, the court found liability in favour of Mr Keegan and that there was no contributory negligence on his part.

On appeal by the council, the CoA decided not to interfere with the award of damages, but it directed that the issue of liability be retried.

Mr Justice Jordan said the accident occurred on November 18, 2013, when Mr Keegan was returning home sometime after 5pm after visiting a number of pubs in which he had consumed five pints of Guinness. He suffered a significant injury to his left ankle, with X-rays revealing a fracture to his left distal tibia and fibula, the judge noted.

The council did not argue the consumption of this level of drink was an act of contributory negligence but argued it as a factor in regard to Mr Keegan’s duty to take reasonable care for his own safety and in his conflicting accounts of how the accident occurred, the judge said.

Having heard expert evidence, the court was satisfied the unglazed tiles did not pose a danger on the premises.

It was not known what, if any, dirt or grime or other matter was present on the tiled surface when he slipped, although it found it was probably wet, the judge said.

Mr Keegan failed to prove the council was “in any way responsible” for the accident, the judge continued.

Mr Keegan’s counsel had further submitted that the council was an “occupier” of the property within the meaning of the word as set out in Occupier’s Liability Act, 1995, said the judge.

It was also contended that Mr Keegan was attending the dwelling as of right due to being a lawful tenant of the council and that he was, therefore, a “visitor” within the meaning of the word in the 1995 Act.

While noting it was not necessary to determine, on account of finding there had been no breach of duty, Mr Justice Jordan found this to be a “flawed” assumption and noted that Mr Keegan, as a resident of the property since 2004, had control over the condition and cleanliness of the porch surface.

By reason of the letting agreement, and the level of control of the premises the council retained, it was correct to say the council was an occupier, but Mr Keegan, too, was “clearly” an occupier, said the judge.

The fact that they were together occupiers does not give Mr Keegan a cause of action against the council under the Occupiers Liability Act, he added.

Deirdre Morley, who killed her three children, sues HSE, hospital and consultant

Children’s father Andrew McGinley has also issued medical negligence actions in the High Court

By Shane Phelan

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/deirdre-morley-who-killed-her-three-children-sues-hse-hospital-and-consultant-41261357.html

Deirdre Morley, the mentally ill mother who killed her three children, and her husband Andrew McGinley have both issued medical negligence actions against the HSE in relation to her care.

The Governors of St Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin and a consultant psychiatrist are also named as defendants in separate lawsuits filed with the High Court on Wednesday.

The move comes eight months after Ms Morley, a paediatric nurse, was found not guilty by reason of insanity with the murder of Conor (9), Darragh (7) and Carla McGinley (3) at their home in Newcastle, Co Dublin on January 24, 2020.

The lawsuits were filed after privately commissioned expert reports identified alleged failings in Ms Morley’s care.

Mr McGinley confirmed the issuing of the proceedings when contacted by the Irish Independent.

“This is a process I would much rather not be taking. I just want to understand why my children died,” he said.

After his wife’s trial concluded, Mr McGinley raised a number of concerns and called for an investigation as a matter of urgency into her diagnosis, treatment and medication prior to the tragedy.

Mr McGinley said the result of a preliminary review of his wife’s case by the HSE had not been shared with him.

He said his concerns about his wife’s care had only increased since he was given access to her medical files last September.

“I think anyone who attended at the trial or saw these medical reports would have questions. I sat there and I just had question after question after question that still haven’t been answered,” he said.

Among the issues he has raised is that his wife’s diagnosis prior to the deaths of the children was different from what it was at the end of her trial.

He believes that if her diagnosis at the time of the death of the children was questionable, then so too was her treatment and medication.

Mr McGinley has also said he believes there were a number of occasions during Ms Morley’s professional care where her initial diagnosis should have been queried.

A further issue is his belief that such were the warning signs that would have been seen during his wife’s treatment, they should have warranted the breaching of patient confidentiality to inform him of the extent of her illness.

“Confidentiality should have been breached. But someone chose not to,” he said.

Mr McGinley and his wife have two separate legal teams, but it is thought their cases could run concurrently as they involve the same defendants and are likely to rely on similar material.

Keith Walsh Solicitors is representing Ms Morley while Callan Tansey Solicitors are representing Mr McGinley.

“There are key changes that need to be made. I don’t know, maybe they won’t be made until this case is heard,” said Mr McGinley.

“I am just frustrated. It is two years since the children died and I do not see any discernible change made to how patients are treated for their mental health in Ireland.

“Many people have written to me since I have talked about family inclusion, that they have managed to get their loved ones’ consent to include them in their treatment plans. And yet still they are not included.

“I am trying not to be angry. I don’t want to be angry. I promised the kids I wouldn’t get angry. But here I am two years without them and no closer to understanding why they died.”

The HSE did not have any comment to make in relation to the legal action.

However, it said an independent review was “ongoing”.

“The HSE cannot comment on individual cases when to do so might reveal information resulting in a breach of the ethical requirement on us to observe our duty of confidentiality,” it said in a statement.

Ms Morley’s trial heard she kept the full extent of her illness concealed from those closest to her, including her husband.

She had been on antidepressant drugs for over two years and had previously spent a short period at St Patrick’s in July 2019 after expressing suicidal thoughts.

In the two years before the killings she attended her GP, Clondalkin Mental Health Services, counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and St Patrick’s.

The court heard that during that time she was prescribed at least five different antidepressant drugs at various stages and the diagnoses she received were less serious than those reached by consultant psychiatrists after the killings, when it was determined she had slipped into delusion and psychosis.

Ms Morley convinced herself her children had been damaged as a result of her mental illness and had no future.

She later expressed regret and remorse but told gardaí she had been unable to stop herself.