An elderly pensioner, who was the victim of poor workmanship when renovations were made to her home, has been awarded 3,500 Euros in emotional injury compensation by a judge in Dublin.
Mr Justice Matthew Deery at the Circuit Civil Court heard how pensioner Kathleen O’Leary (84) had contracted the services of Cranlowe Ltd – a father and son building company situated in Terenure, Dublin – to renovate a 1.82m2 (6 feet) utility room in her home in Walkinstown, Dublin.
Soon after the workmen had finished – and Kathleen had paid them 23,000 for the work they had done – faults began to appear. First the utility room flooded due to faulty pipework. This caused the electricity to short-circuit as the power supply had not been earthed and, on closer inspection by a quantity surveyor, a further eighteen faults were discovered.
The judge heard that Kathleen had approached the senior partner of the building company – Patrick Cowzer – to demand an explanation and arrange for remedial work to be done, but he had become aggressive and abusive towards her.
After seeking professional legal advice, Kathleen made an injury compensation claim for professional negligence against the father and son and, in November 2011, had a judgement made in her favour after the defendants failed to contest the claim.
Mr Justice Matthew Deery heard that the case was before him for the assessment of damages only and, after hearing that it would cost 14,192 Euros to put right the errors made by Cranlowe Ltd, he awarded Kathleen 17,692 Euros to account for the repairs to her home and to provide emotional injury compensation for the stress she had experienced throughout the affair.