Lochgelly family sues Boots after rolling pin hits toddler
11 NovemberLochgelly mother Claire Burns is seeking £100,000 damages from Boots after a rolling pin fell from a third floor window and fractured the skull of her infant daughter.
Ms Burns, 32, of Auchterderran Road, is seeking compensation from the company for injuries suffered by Alyssa, who was 20 months old at the time, and is also claiming for the effect on her, including distress and alarm.
Alyssa's grandparents, Henry, 67, and Margaret Howieson, 63, who were also on the shopping trip to Dundee in 2008, are also suing Boots UK Ltd for £20,000 each in the action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Mr and Mrs Howieson, of Kirkland Place, Ballingry, are claiming for various mental symptoms.
Following the accident the firm admitted a breach of health and safety regulations and was fined £6500 at Dundee Sheriff Court.
In the civil action Boots has admitted liability to compensate for the injury to the girl, but beyond that denies liability, maintaining the other claims are too remote. They claim that the mother and grandparents are "secondary victims" and emotional reactions suffered by people in that category do not give rise to a liability for damages.
Ms Burns and her father had gone into a Boots store in Dundee city centre while Mrs Howieson remained outside with Alyssa in her buggy.
The rolling pin fell and hit the child on the head and the grandmother took the infant into her arms.
Ms Burns saw this and ran outside to her screaming daughter and Mr Howieson came out and picked up the rolling pin.
The case was called before Lord Stewart at a preliminary stage as lawyers for Boots sought to have it transferred from a simplified procedure because of "the likely need for detailed pleadings" and a likelihood that one or more of the claims would be dismissed at a procedural stage. The judge refused.
Story reprinted from The Herald www.heraldscotland.com
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