Judge dismisses case of girl stung by wasps at Dublin Zoo

In the Circuit Civil Court last week Judge Catherine Staines dismissed a €60,000 claim for damages on behalf of a 17-month-old child who sustained a number of wasp stings at Dublin Zoo.

While the zoo did not deny that Aimee Tobin, now 7, Judge Staines said that witnesses for the plaintiff had failed to convince the court that there had been any negligence on the part of the wildlife park. An allegation that a wasp’s nest had fallen from an overhanging tree was challenged as there was no evidence of same and the number of stings sustained changed from what was initially reported.

Judge Staines said that while she felt sorry for the pain that Aimee had suffered, and for her family, she believed that no case of negligence against the zoo had been established. The case was dismissed with an order for costs.