Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/

If a child lost an eye

  • 16-07-2025 12:14PM
    #1
    the O Reilly connection
    Registered Users Posts: 346 ✭✭


    Hi

    I was wondering what the outcome would be in a scenario like this. X is on his way home from a night out. He's very drunk. He passes an old neighbour's house who in the past, he hasn't got on very well with. For a laugh, he throws a stone at his neighbour's window, and breaks the window. Unbeknownst to him, there is a child in a cradle behind the window. The glass collapses onto the child, and the child loses his sight in one eye.

    What charges is X likely to face? And what recourse, if any, has the child if X is successfully convicted?

    Thank you

    Post edited by the O Reilly connection on


Comments

  • #2
    Dial Hard
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 15,049 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    You come up with some seriously weird scenarios, dude.



  • #3
    Seth Brundle
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 43,706 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058419765/if-a-child-lost-an-eye

    What charges is X likely to face if found guilty?

    None - if they are found guilty then they will not face any charges - they'll already have been charged, tried and convicted.

    And what recourse, if any, has the child if X is successfully convicted?

    A civil action for damages is not dependent on a criminal outcome.



  • #4
    Rocket_GD
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,171 ✭✭✭Rocket_GD


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058419765/if-a-child-lost-an-eye

    Why do you want to know?



  • #5
    MarkR
    Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators Posts: 11,318 Mod ✭✭✭✭MarkR


    If the defendant uses the word "Unbeknownst" , it's an automatic acquittal.

    Is intent important? The intent was to annoy the neighbour by throwing something at the window. Not to intentionally break the window, and not to hurt anyone by that.

    Post edited by MarkR on


  • #6
    thebiglad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,753 ✭✭✭thebiglad


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058419765/if-a-child-lost-an-eye

    And, even supposing there was an award made against X, you'd assume they have the means to settle it anyway.

    Compensation awards are so high because typically there is an insurance company with large bank accounts on hand to cover it, were awards made against private individuals such sums would be irrelevant as never likely to be paid.



  • Advertisement
  • #7
    geotrig
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,971 ✭✭✭geotrig


    haha this scenario !! but i would think property damage with battery and assault due to injuries to the child civil case would be separate i think unless running in tandem if that happens i dont know ?



  • #8
    Mellor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,536 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058419765/if-a-child-lost-an-eye

    That's a very strange thing to wonder about and I'd be slightly concerned about your search history.

    But to answer the question. He'd be guilty of reckless assault, endangerment, etc (and potentially others relating property damage, trespass). And the victim pursue damages - which wouldn't require a conviction.

    People have successfully been awarded damages injuries that occurred by accident in people's homes. Add criminal behaviour and it'd be straightforward

    Post edited by Mellor on


  • #9
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,931 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    A lot would depend on how many functioning eyes the child had to start with. If the child was blind in one eye and lost the other , it would be more serios that if he had 2 good eyes and lost 1 of them. If he lost an eye with very limited sight already, it wouldn't be all that bad.



  • #10
    Allinall
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,450 ✭✭✭Allinall


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123641432#Comment_123641432

    I’m glad I’ll never have you as a defence barrister.



  • #11
    the O Reilly connection
    Registered Users Posts: 346 ✭✭the O Reilly connection


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123641466#Comment_123641466

    Does foreseeability of damage come up in a criminal trial as well as a civil trial?



  • Advertisement
  • #12
    MarkR
    Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators Posts: 11,318 Mod ✭✭✭✭MarkR


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123641774#Comment_123641774

    I think you're missing out. I've seen several episodes of Judge Judy, as well as Law & Order.



  • #13
    Mellor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,536 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123641432#Comment_123641432

    If the defendant uses the word "Unbeknownst" , it's an automatic acquittal.

    LOL. Not a hope.

    Intent isn't critical. The charges would be recklessly causing harm or endangerment.
    He didn't intend to hurt anyone, but he acted without considering that he might.

    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123641859#Comment_123641859

    Yes. That would be a consideration on whether it was reckless action, or a reasonable accident.
    That would essentially be the whole trial, so nobody can say definitively here. But this is the offense, it's a highly likely guilty verdict imo.

    A person who intentionally or recklessly causes serious harm to another shall be guilty of an offence.



  • #14
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 27,863 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    On the civil side, this is an open and shut case: the child would recover damages under the ordinary principles of negligence.

    On the criminal side? Malicious damage, obviously, for throwing a stone at a window. What about an assault charge? As Mellor points out, that requires at least recklessness, but I think there's a strong argument that anyone throwing stones through the windows of residential property is reckless about the possibility that someone inside the property might be harmed either by the stone or by flying glass. I think a conviction is likely. Since the child lost an eye the charge would be assault causing serious harm (Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 s. 4).



  • #15
    the O Reilly connection
    Registered Users Posts: 346 ✭✭the O Reilly connection


    That's great. Thank you!



  • #16
    Woodcutting
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 588 ✭✭✭Woodcutting


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123643557#Comment_123643557

    If he is drunk would he still be able to be reckless



  • #17
    Mellor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,536 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123649123#Comment_123649123

    How would that make his actions any less reckless?



  • #18
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 27,863 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123649123#Comment_123649123

    Certainly. If anything, many people are more prone to acting recklessly when drunk than they are when sober.



  • #19
    Widdensushi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 5,693 ✭✭✭Widdensushi


    He must be a strong man, likely that a child's bedroom is upstairs,,he is passing on the road,,I don't know when I last saw a single pane of glass window,so at least double, while fracturing the outside pane is possible throwing a stone from the road,the chances of throwing a stone that would break glass to the extent that glass goes into the bedroom is nearly impossible,I am worse for replying to this nonsense 😭.



  • #20
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,931 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655217#Comment_123655217

    I found a stone on my kitchen floor and the window broken through. My assumption was that the stone came through the window. Are you saying that it is impossible?



Advertisement