Jogger injured by horse on gallops at Curragh Racecourse loses High Court damages claim

A jogger who sued after one or more galloping horses collided with him at the Curragh Racecourse has lost his High Court damages action and could face a substantial legal costs bill as a result.

Jogger injured by horse on gallops at Curragh Racecourse loses High Court damages claim

A jogger who sued after one or more galloping horses collided with him at the Curragh Racecourse has lost his High Court damages action and could face a substantial legal costs bill as a result.

Mr Justice David Keane said, while Gary Turner is entitled to "every sympathy" for his injuries and the pain and suffering he has endured, the court could find no responsibility, and hence, no liability, on the part of either the Curragh Racecourse or two sisters whose family have been training horses on the Curragh for almost a century.

The proximate cause of the accident, he concluded, was Mr Turner's failure "to keep a proper lookout", together with the use of earphones to listen to music, impeding "if not eliminating" his ability to hear the approach of the racehorses or the shouted warnings of their approach.

It was "more than likely", had Mr Turner been taking reasonable care either by keeping a proper lookout or ensuring he could hear the sound of the approaching racehorses or the shouted warnings of their approach, "he could have avoided the accident by the simple and straightforward expedient of stopping or slowing down".

While listening to headphones as a pedestrian or jogger in a public place is not in itself negligent, he was satisfied it did contribute to this accident as did Mr Turner's failure to keep a proper visual lookout.

Mr Turner, a businessman of Walshestown Abbey, Athgarvan Road, Newbridge, sued over the collision at the Maddenstown gallops on the Curragh plain on the morning of Saturday September 6, 2014. The horses were said to be galloping about 40 miles per hour and the force of it was such one jockey was dismounted.

Mr Turner was wearing earphones and said he heard the horses approach from his left after he had run past buildings and onto a grassy area with a palisade fence on his left but had no time to avoid them.

He believed two horses hit him and he thought he was “dying”.

He suffered a dislocated shoulder and other injuries, has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and said he is in pain constantly.

He sued two related companies - the Curragh Racecourse and Curragh Racecourse Hospitality Ltd - along with two sisters, Tracey Collins and Sheena Collins, of Cunningham Lodge, The Curragh.

The Curragh defendants denied claims of negligence and breach of duty, including claims of operating an unsafe system insofar as horses were permitted to ride at speed in the area.

In their joint separate defence, Tracey Collins, a horse trainer, and her sister Sheena, an employee of Tracey, denied negligence and breach of duty in relation to the collision.

They pleaded contributory negligence on the part of Mr Turner over allegedly running towards a designated 6.6 metre wide gap for horses in railings without checking whether there were horses galloping through and causing or permitting an emergency situation which they had no reasonable means of avoiding.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Keane found the "unusual, if not unprecedented" accident occurred between 120 and 139 metres from the corner of the palisade fence and that, for several seconds before it, the jockeys of three approaching horses to Mr Turner's left were shouting warnings at him and Tracey Collins, to his left, was running towards him, waving her arms and shouting a warning.

He could not accept the Curragh Racecourse could and should have averted the accident by erecting a temporary sign or signs when the gallops was in use warning "Look Left For Galloping Horses" or words to that effect.

Mr Turner had said he did not look to his right or left when jogging on the Curragh plain which meant, if there was a sign, he would not have seen it, he said. The dangers inherent in crossing wide open gallops are "directly comparable" to those of visiting precipitous cliffs or the banks of rivers and streams.

When Mr Turner passed the corner of the palisade fence, the racehorses would have been "plainly visible" to him on the open plain of the gallops for an initial distance greater than 750 metres away to the point of collision with them over 30 seconds later, he said.

The Collins sisters were not negligent or in breach of duty in failing to ensure the horses they were training on the gallops were pulled up before Mr Turner collided with them, he held.

The matter was adjourned to next week for final orders and costs.

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

Pile or group of multi colored and different sizes of colourful foil wrapped chocolate easter eggs in pink, blue, and gold. Larg Young sisters donate hundreds of Easter eggs to children's hospital
Mother and daughters killed in Mayo crash named locally, as husband returns to Ireland 'Their smiles lit up the room': Tributes paid to mother and daughters killed in Mayo crash
Gardaí hoping to reunite lost 'Dad' urn with owner Gardaí hoping to reunite lost 'Dad' urn with owner
War_map
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited