Horse Riding Accident Leads to €75,000 Award

A 38 year old man, a client of Moloney Solicitors, who suffered injuries when he was thrown from a horse whilst riding a horse as a leisure activity in a prominent Munster hotel has been awarded £75,000 by the High Court.

The client suffered significant lower back injuries in the fall and instructed Moloney & Co. Solicitors to issue proceedings on his behalf against the hotel claiming damages for negligence and breach of duty on the part of the hotel.

The client further claimed that the hotel had not carried out a proper assessment of the client’s riding abilities before allowing him to mount the horse, failed to carry out any rick assessment at all, failed to provide a trained assistant and failed to provide the client with protective equipment such as a back protector and riding boots.

When the matter came on for Trial before the High Court the Defendants alleged that the accident had not happened in the manner alleged by the client or indeed at all. The High Court rejected the Defendant’s Defence and awarded the client €45,000 General Damages for his injuries and a sum of €30,000 for Aggravated Damages due to the manner in which the Defendants had conducted their Defence. The allegation that the accident had not occurred at all was essentially a plea of fraud on the part of the Defendant.

This award is one of the few awards of aggravated damages made in the High Court in personal injury cases in recent years.

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