Judge O’Donohoe says he considers the Injury Board’s assessment of compensation to be a reasonable one and approves the settlement.

A four-year-old girl, whose cheek was lacerated by a sharp-edged unprotected steel bar attached to a pole in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre car park, has received just over €16,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.

Barrister Comfort Odesola told Judge James O’Donohoe that Molly Durnin’s right cheek scraped against the bar, leaving her with an inch-long cut just below her eye.

Ms Odesola, who appeared with Kieran Friel of McHale Muldoon Solicitors, told the court she was recommending approval of the settlement assessment by the Injuries Board and proffered by Blanche Retail’s nominee that looks after the car park.

Molly’s mother Ciara Durnin, of Kiltale, Co Meath, said in written evidence that she was traversing the car park with her daughter, who is now aged seven, when the accident happened on December 27th during Christmas sales.

Judge O’Donohoe heard that medical reports submitted to the Injuries Board for assessment purposes concluded that Molly’s cheek injury had fully recovered two-and-a-half years after the incident. Occasionally with extremes of heat or cold a small white sub-scar became noticeable.

The court accepted that the sharp metal bar fitted to a pole at such a low level represented a hazard and the car park operator owed customers a duty of care against injury.

Judge O’Donohoe told Ms Odesola that he considered the Injury Board’s assessment of compensation to be a reasonable one and approved the settlement.