€10k each for siblings falsely accused of stealing from golf store

12/02/2019


Two teenagers who were falsely accused of having stolen goods from a golf store have settled their Circuit Civil Court case against owners of the store for damages of €10,000 each.

The teenagers, a brother and sister aged 13 and 14 respectively, sued the owners of the store for defamation of character after allegations of theft made against them had been proven false.

Counsel for the siblings told the court that the boy, a very keen golfer, had been browsing the golf store in the east of the country with his sister on the afternoon in question in August 2018. The pair had been waiting for their mother to collect them.

Counsel for the children told the court that a member of staff of the store had stopped the children to search their shopping bags, claiming that they had been “up to no good.”

The staff member claimed that he had seen the children put a pair of leggings into a bag. The staff member searched their shopping bags and found items they had bought in other stores in the shopping centre, but no items from the golf store.

The court heard that the staff member then escorted the siblings to the exit door and expelled them from the store.

Counsel told the court that the manner in which the staff member had spoken to the children and the way he searched their bags had suggested that they were guilty of theft. He said that the incident, and the subsequent expulsion of the children from the store, had occurred in full view of other customers in the store.

Counsel said that the children had been ‘upset and embarrassed’ by what happened and that no apology of any kind had been offered by the owners of the store since the incident.

The golf store had offered a settlement of €10,000 to each of the children and counsel recommended this to the court. The judge approved the offer and also granted Circuit Court costs to the children.

If you have been falsely accused of a crime, be sure to discuss the matter with your solicitor. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.

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