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€41k Awarded to 5-year-Old Boy for Coffee Shop Soup Spilling Accident

A High Court personal injury compensation action has been settled for €41,000 in favour of a five year old boy who, when a baby, pulled a bowl of soup on top of himself in a coffee shop and suffered extensive burns.

The boy in question, Otto Devine, was just six months old when he sustained superficial scald burns to his arms and legs at a coffee shop at the Airfield Estate, Dundrum, Dublin. The boy was with his father and grandfather when the accident occurred on May 10, 2015. His counsel Carl Hanahoe BL informed the presiding judge, Justice Kevin Cross, that soup and sandwiches were taken directly to the table. He said that the soup was allegedly placed in front of the infant who then caught the bowl spilling the liquid over himself.

The young baby was rushed by ambulance to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. Here he was found to have partial thickness burns to both of his hands, his left leg and right foot. Additionally there was a redness to the right side of his face right hand and the inside of his left elbow. Overall, three per cent of the boy’s body were found to have been inflicted with burns. Due to this he was referred to the plastic surgery department where his wounds were cleaned and sterile dressings applied.

In total the child was in hospital for eight days and two days following his admission he experienced early toxic shock syndrome and developed a fever. After this fever alleviated he was discharged on May 18, 2015. As a result of the accident, Otto was left with three areas of minor scarring, the court heard.

The young boy’s legal team told the court that that soup should not have been taken to the table, at a temperature which would inflict serious burns, and put down on the table in  front of a young child. The legal action was taken on behalf of Otto by his father, Conor Devine, against the Airfield Estate as a result of the accident. Liability was not agreed in the case but a settlement was gredd and Justice Kevin Cross gave his approval for it and said that he was happy that Otto had made a good recovery from a serious injury.