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A MOTHER AND son, whose bathroom was splattered in “an explosion of raw sewage” have been awarded €20,000 damages against Fingal County Council and Irish Water.
Barrister Andrew Walker, counsel for Patricia Powell and her son, Sean, told the Circuit Civil Court today that both had suffered personal injuries as a result of “the explosion”.
Judge Francis Comerford heard that Powell and her son were at home in Hayestown, Rush, Co Dublin, on 19 August 2015 when maintenance work was being carried out to the local drainage and sewage system by the defendants in the area.
The court was told there had been “an explosion of raw sewage up through the toilet” and that it was spread all over the floor, walls, bath and wash hand basin.
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Walker, who appeared with Dermot McNamara Solicitors, told Judge Comerford that Powell and her son had to clean up the mess as best they could and then had to arrange for a contract cleaning company to carry out further work.
The judge heard that a very strong smell remained in the Powell’s home, forcing them to move out.
Powell and her son, now living at Hampton Cove, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, sued the county council and the water utility for up to €60,000 damages for psychological distress and trauma, expenses and house relocation charges.
Powell and her son had attended their family doctor.
Judge Comerford awarded Powell €12,000 damages and her son €8,000 damages and their costs. He said they were entitled to compensation for nuisance as well as a degree of damages for personal injury arising from the incident.
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34 Comments
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@Cathal Byrne: ok how much would you shovel an explosion of other people’s shit out of your home? The smell alone in the house would be rank and they had to have health checks as well. I think it was appropriate.
@Fiona deFreyne: Absolutely not enough. Disgusting experience. They could have become very sick and having to move out of your home for the place to become safe to live in, definitely not enough.
Irish water costing us more money with their failings. But hey no high up person responsible as usual when they should be sacked immediately as the whole way Irish Water has been set up and remember their spend of OUR millions on consultants fees and the CEOs pay and all those high up around him to the hundreds of staff we are still paying for in Cork & for what as fees are finally gone. Oh don’t forget the bonuses again for all. Refunds should not be given to those who wanted to pay as well and a few existing council workers should handle water supply queries like before,& not hundreds of people in Cork we were there for billing and now bills gone they should be gone too saving us millions on this quango.
@Jay Lane: why do you feel some people should pay for water by not getting refunded but not you? Do you think some sort of punishment is required for people that didn’t shirk their civic responsibilities?
@John Cronin: They are a very powerful self serving elite and one of the few elites to defy change when the troika was here aided by our spineless government, who only look out for their elite friends anyway.
@Neville Bartos:
Fair enough I can see where you are coming from but it’s the twenty days I would question solely from my own experience after frost damage back in 2010.
The damage was contained to one section of the house but it was still a LOT more than twenty days.
Maybe I was just unlucky.
People just wait now for some wack shit to happen to them. Id say you’ve better odds than winning on a 2€ scratch card. Just sue for anything, pays out as good as the National Lottery with better odds.
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