A case in which an Alsatian knocked over a woman and caused her to break her leg was finally settled at a sitting of Ballinasloe District Court when the owner of the dog paid over a total of €5,000 in compensation.
At an earlier sitting the lady stated in her victim impact statement that the owner of the dog had never apologised to her and this “grieved her”. She said that it was because of his attitude she was allowing his prosecution to go ahead.
This was the scenario outlined to Judge James Faughnan when the case against Paul McMorrow of Cloonfad, Old Town, Co Roscommon first came before him. McMorrow was prosecuted under the Control of Dogs Act.
However, his defence pleaded that there was a misunderstanding between the parties. His client was in fact very remorseful and had €1,000 by way of compensation.
The court was told McMurrow was a dog lover and took his responsibilities very seriously. He had installed electric fences and walls around his property to keep his dogs in, but they managed to get out on this particular day. The Alsatian which attacked the victim had since been handed over to an animal charity.
At one of several previous sittings Garda Sgt Christy Brown outlined a summary of the evidence. On May 14, 2024 the victim was taking her dog for a walk in a wooded area adjacent to the defendant’s house. Three dogs raced out of McMorrow’s gate and ran toward the her. The Alsatian knocked her to the ground and she sustained a broken leg in the attack.
Judge Faughnan said he wanted to see a victim impact statement presented to him and he also wanted to see compensation on the table when the case came before him again.
When it was called again the Judge said the victim had been taken to Portiuncula Hospital and treated for a broken leg, which required pins to be inserted.
When he was informed that the victim was not making a personal injury claim against the defendant he replied “it’s all down to money now”. He acknowledged the €1,000 that was offered and adjourned the matter until the April 23 sitting for a total of €5,000 in compensation to be paid over, which was done on Tuesday last.
