15-year-old schoolboy Adam Russell was today awarded €32,000 compensation for personal injuries after being attacked and bitten in the face by a neighbour’s German Pointer dog
Legal Representations for Mr Russell, Barrister Brian Sugrue, claimed the boy was at the home of Erica Deacon and Eoin Gibson in the Ballinclea Heights estate in Killiney, Co Dublin when the dog, a Weimaraner short-haired German pointer, attacked him (Adam).
Circuit Court President Justice Raymond Groarke was told by Mr Sugrue that Adam Russell, who was 12 years old at the time of the attack, was attacked and bitten on his face by the dog while trying to play with it.
Adam, taking the legal compensation case through his father Colm Russell, was playing at the house belonging to Deacon and Gibson on 28 September 2013 when the German Pointer dog suddenly bit him.
He was taken, for treatment, to the Swiftcare Clinic, Dundrum, Dublin, where the cut to his face were dealt with by physicians. His nose injury was sutured and the wound just under his lower lip had been closed with surgical glue. The tooth injury suffered was later treated by dentists at Dalkey Dental Clinic.
Adam Russell’s injured tooth would possibly, according to Mr Sugrue, need a crown in the future but part of the €32,000 dog attack compensation settlement offer took future dental work into consideration.
Consultant Plastic Surgeon Patricia Eadie had examined Adam’s scars in 2016 and the court was told that revision surgery may have to take place. The scarring on his nose is permanent.
Judge Groarke was told that Mr Sugrue was approving acceptance of the €32,000 child injury compensation offer. Mr Groarke said that, while not generous, this offer was within the normal range of compensation for such dog attack injuries. The dog attack compensation offer was approved and will be invested in court funds until December 19 2019 when Adam Russell becomes 18 years of age.