A 67-YEAR-OLD retired estate agent, who alleged he had been injured when a door suddenly closed on him on a Luas tram, has lost a €60,000 damages claim against the transport company.

Judge Karen Fergus said Patrick Scanlan had told the court he had been trapped by the single entrance door and had to be released by a security guard and that she could see no evidence of this on a CCTV video shown to her.

Scanlan, of The Crescent, Newbridge, County Kildare, claimed the closing doors had injured his left shoulder, elbow and hip in the April 2014 incident and that he still suffered pain for which he had to occasionally take pain killers.

He told barrister Simon Kearns, counsel for Transdev Ireland, which operates Dublin’s light rail system on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, that the incident occurred at the Red Cow station.

Kearns, who appeared with Good and Murray Smith Solicitors, told him that a video of his entering the tram would show that he had not been trapped by the door and that a sound and lights warning had been given that the door had been about to close.

Judge Fergus said Scanlan had said in evidence that he had been trapped and had to be released by a security guard on the tram. “It is completely clear from the CCTV that didn’t happen,” the judge said.

She granted an application by Kearns for a dismissal of the case on the grounds that Scanlan had failed to make out a prima facie case against Transdev.

From the the CCTV video she said she had been unable to find any evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant.

Scanlan told the court the doors of the tram remained open only for a minute and he and his son had been delayed while a number of passengers exited from the rear door where they wished to enter.

Kearns said the CCTV revealed that no passengers had left the tram by the rear door before Scanlan entered.

Scanlan told Kearns that x-rays and an MRI of his left shoulder prior to the April 2014 incident had shown that he suffered from arthritis and had a pre-existing rotor cuff problem in his shoulder well before the alleged accident happened.

Judge Fergus, dismissing Scanlan’s claim, said she would make no order as to legal costs.