A woman had her personal injuries claim against fast-food restaurant Supermac’s dismissed after a judge found she was “wholly distracted” by her phone when she claimed she tripped over a hoover.
Mary Darcy, of Sceilg Ard, Headford Road, Galway city, pursued a claim for damages after the incident in Charlestown, Co Mayo in December 2017.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan, sitting in Castlebar Circuit Court on Wednesday, dismissed the claim after Ms Darcy’s direct evidence and CCTV footage of the incident was played.
Judge O’Callaghan praised Ms Darcy, who was pregnant at the time of the incident, for giving an honest account of the incident, but said she was “wholly distracted” by a message on her phone and wasn’t watching where she was going.
He found that Supermac’s was negligent to leave the vacuum cleaner in the position they did but said that, had the plaintiff not been distracted by her phone, she would have seen it clearly.
The incident happened on December 11, 2017, at a service station in Charlestown, Co Mayo.
