Month: March 2022

Court awards €126,000 to passenger injured when bus braked suddenly (via Irish Times)

Judges rules there was no contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff

By Ellen O’Riordan, 9th March 2022

he High Court has awarded €126,000 to a passenger over injuries sustained after the bus she was travelling on came to a sudden stop to avoid a collision.

In a judgment, Ms Justice Emily Egan found the Bus Éireann driver was not driving with reasonable care at the time of the incident and the need to suddenly halt the vehicle arose out of a “wholly avoidable” emergency of the defendant’s own making.

Bus Éireann acted in breach of its duty, the judge ruled, and there was no contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff, Jennifer Quaid, who was seated at the time of the incident on March 19th, 2014.

To read the full story please visit:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/court-awards-126-000-to-passenger-injured-when-bus-braked-suddenly-1.4822552

Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski killed in Ukraine after vehicle hit by Russian shelling (via Irish Times)

‘He just never stopped being astonishing with how brave he was,’ says former Dublin classmate

By Sarah Burns, 15 March 2022

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/irish-journalist-pierre-zakrzewski-killed-in-ukraine-after-vehicle-hit-by-russian-shelling-1.4827713

An Irish journalist working as a Fox News cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, who was killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine on Monday has been described as a passionate and talented individual with an “indomitable” spirit.

The photographer (55) died alongside Ukrainian journalist and producer, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, after the vehicle they were travelling in with reporter Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, the US broadcaster said.

President Michael D Higgins paid tribute, offering his “deepest sympathies” to the family of Mr Zakrzewski. “The indiscriminate killing of civilians, including journalists, must be brought to an end,” Mr Higgins said in a statement.

Born in August 1966, Mr Zakrzewski was the second-eldest of six children: four boys and two girls. His mother was French and his father was Polish, and the family lived in Leopardstown, Co Dublin. He attended St Conleth’s College in Ballsbridge and studied arts in UCD for a time.

A friend and former classmate of cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski has spoken of his indomitable spirit and how he turned his passion for travel and adventure into a career as a cameraman.

Stephen O’Dea told Newstalk Breakfast that Mr Zakrzewski was his “classmate with an exotic name”.

“He was always fun, always driven. He was intrepid. When he left school he wanted to go travelling and to climb Mount Everest and he did that.”

When he climbed Mount Everest he went higher than anyone else without oxygen and helped other climbers who had gotten into distress to descend. “That’s the kind of guy he was. He would prioritise other people.”

During the 1990s when Mr O’Dea lived in London Mr Zakrzewski often stayed with him between trips. On his return from Kashmir he had footage which he hoped would highlight what was happening there.

“He wore the things he did casually.”

Mr O’Dea said that because of the many difficult situations their friend had survived “we thought that he was immune to it ”.

School yearbook
Writing in his school yearbook in 2004, Mr Zakrzewski spoke of the dangers of the job . “I’ve many friends and colleagues who have died so that the world can be better informed,” he wrote, recalling the death of Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers, who was killed in Saudi Arabia earlier that year.

Mr Zakrzewski said he had covered conflicts in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and it was a job that suited his personality – “travel, adventure foreign news and seeing humanity at work”.

“My job as a cameraman is simply to inform the general public so that they can put pressure on politicians to implement change in these wonderful countries,” he wrote.

“It’s difficult to explain the attraction to this way of life, but when you experience the emotional roller coaster of war, both positive and negative, as a cameraman I feel I have a duty to tell their story.”

St Conleth’s College said it was with “great sadness” that it learned of the death of Mr Zakrzewski, who was in the class of 1984.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,” the school said in a statement.

Mr Zakrzewski was married to a former BBC journalist and they were based in London for the last 15 years.

Ms Kuvshynova was a local journalist working with the Fox News reporting team. Her death was confirmed by the Ukrainian interior ministry. Fox News announced the attack and Mr Hall’s injury on Monday, saying the reporter “was injured while newsgathering outside of Kyiv in Ukraine”. Mr Zakrzewski and Ms Kuvshinova died “as a result of artillery shelling by Russian troops in the north-eastern part of the village of Gorenka”, kp.ua said.

Vast talent
Mr Hall has been in hospital since the incident which took place on Monday, Fox News said. As a war photographer, Mr Zakrzewski had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox, according to Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media. “His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Ms Scott said.

“His talents were vast and there wasn’t a role that he didn’t jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill.

“He was profoundly committed to telling the story and his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet.”

Mr Zakrzewski also played a key role last year in getting Afghan freelance associates and their families out of the country after the US withdrawal, winning the Unsung Hero prize at the Fox News annual employee Spotlight Awards, Ms Scott said.

“Today is a heart-breaking day for Fox News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news,” she added.

Trey Yingst, a Fox News foreign correspondent, tweeted a picture with Mr Zakrzewski and said: “I don’t know what to say. Pierre was as good as they come. Selfless. Brave. Passionate. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

It comes days after US filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed in Ukraine after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle. The 50-year-old, from Arkansas, was gathering material for a report about refugees when his vehicle was hit at a checkpoint in Irpin, just outside Kyiv. –Additional reporting AP/Guardian

Security man loses action against Dunnes over fall while trying to fix camera (via Irish Times)

Mohammad Aldasouqi failed to establish a breach of duty of care, judge rules

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/security-man-loses-action-against-dunnes-over-fall-while-trying-to-fix-camera-1.4822726

The High Court has dismissed an action against Dunnes Stores over an incident in which a security manager claimed he fell off a defective ladder when attempting to fix a security camera in a store.

Mohammad Aldasouqi, who was a security manager at the Briarhill branch in Galway at the time of the incident on January 18th, 2014, got up on the ladder to fix the position of a camera covering the “goods inwards” area of the store, the court heard.

He claimed Dunnes was in breach of its duty of care to him by, among other things, requiring him to use a ladder that was defective and exposed him to risk. It was alleged the ladder collapsed underneath him.

Mr Aldasouqi claimed he suffered injuries including to his right lower chest, right abdomen, right arm, right wrist, and left knee, some pain to his right hip as well as soft tissue injuries.

Dunnes denied all his claims and also pleaded contributory negligence.

Dismissing the case, Mr Justice Tony O’Connor said one of the main issues was whether the store manager had directed him to fix the camera. Dunnes denied the manager told him to do so.

From hearing the evidence of Mr Aldasouqi, the judge said he was left with the impression the store manager “merely told the plaintiff to fix the camera” but that did not necessarily convey that Mr Aldasouqi had to do it himself or to adopt any means to do it and, particularly, without regard to his own safety.

Emergency
The judge said Mr Aldasouqi candidly explained that in the normal course of events defective equipment had to be reported to the head office which would send out a contractor but, in this case, Mr Aldasouqi believed there was an “emergency to fix it”.

In his evidence, Mr Aldasouqi tried to recall events that occurred eight years ago and after a traumatic event at that time, the judge said.

However, he said, there was no evidence the store manager exerted undue pressure or intimated that the safety of Mr Aldasouqi should be ignored.

It was also apparent during the trial, which took place in Galway, that Mr Aldasouqi was, and remains, “quite exercised” about not having had his contract of employment made permanent in 2014.

“That affected his objectivity in recalling events”, he said.

Mr Aldasouqi failed to persuade the judge that he was instructed expressly or implicitly to bypass the safety standards of Dunnes.

He acknowledged that he could not remember whether the store manager thought fixing the camera was urgent on that Saturday.

On the day of the fall it was solely his choice “to grab a most unsuitable ladder” and not to investigate other ways of replacing the camera, the judge said.

He failed to establish a breach of duty of care on the part of the defendant to him, he said.