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Child Severed Fingertip Claim decided at court

A three year old child had a severed fingertip claim for compensation settled for the sum of £16,700 at the Circuit Civil Court. The girl lost the tip of her fingertip in a nursery pushchair accident.

Roisin Longo was two years of age when her fingertip was sliced off in the hinge of her MacLaren Techno XT while she was attending Mellow Spring Childcare Development Centre..

Staff at the crèche found the fingertip and packed it ice so that her mother, Ms Elaine Deans, could take Roisin to hospital and attempt to have the amputated fingertip sewn back on.

However, as Circuit Court President Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard, the best efforts of surgeons could not prevent the tissue dying and the fingertip eventually falling off.

After seeking legal advice, Ms Deans found out that the pushchair model had been recalled in the United States, and repair kits had been issued to customers due to acknowledged problems with the hinge mechanism.

Even though the pushchair was manufactured in England, and conformed to UK and EU safety standards, Ms Deans filed a claim for product liability compensation against MacLaren Europe Limited, of Northampton, England.

Without accepting liability, MacLaren Europe Limited had made a settlement offer of 20,000 Euros – a settlement offer which Roisin’s mother accepted and which Mr Justice Matthew Deery had pleasure in approving.