Worrying dealings from a very large VW dealer.
From Indo
QUOTEEMMETT Fagan was only 16 when he died after the car he was driving went off the road, over a ditch and into a field just four miles from his home.
Ten years on, the family of the Leaving Cert student yesterday settled an action for damages against the garage which had sold them a defective car.
Just a few months after the tragic New Year's Day 1997 accident, it transpired that the almost new car, which the Fagan family had bought for IR£26,450 a year earlier, had been written off in a previous accident before it was repaired and sold on to them.
Emmett's father Eamon Fagan of Ballyheelan, Kilnaleck, Co Cavan, had sued Al Hayes Motors Ltd of Cooleen, Churchill, Ballyshrule, Ballinasloe, Co Galway and Hibernian Insurance, Haddington Road, Dublin.
After two hours of talks yesterday, Counsel for Mr Fagan, Padraig McCartan SC told the High Court the matter had been settled.
He said Mr Fagan had bought the 1995-registered Audi car from Al Hayes Motors on January 23, 1996 for £26,450. Mr Fagan, he said, was told it had belonged to somebody else and had been in a small accident sustaining some wing damage.
Counsel said Mr Fagan accepted that, but 13 months later his son took the car out and drove it. The car went up on a ditch and into a field. The school boy died as a result of the injuries sustained.
The family, he said, subsequently discovered that the car had been involved in a serious accident when it was previously owned and Hibernian Insurance had paid out £22,000 in respect of the compensation claim on that accident.
Al Hayes Motors, counsel said, had bought the "wreck", repaired it and "put it back on the road".
Mr McCartan said it later transpired that the car was defective: component parts of the chassis were out of joint and the steering mechanism was not completely repaired. "It was a defective car," counsel said.
He said a full defence was delivered by both defendants but liability was later admitted.
Counsel for Al Hayes Motors told the court that the garage had taken over the defence of the case and it accepts it is completely responsible.
Mr Fagan had claimed that it was implied that Al Hayes Motors warranted that the car was roadworthy, in good mechanical order and free from defects. It was claimed the tyres of the car were wearing off unevenly; the timing belt slipped off the engine; the steering components were faulty and the chassis and suspensions were damaged.
'We are devastated. He was our only son. Our lives were
overturned
completely by this'
Emmett's mother Maureen yesterday told the court how her family had been devastated by his death.
Showing a photograph of her dead son to the court, Mrs Fagan said he was a great lad whom everybody loved. Her son was about to do his Leaving Cert, she said and it had been hoped he would join his father in the glazing business.
"We are devastated. He was our only son. Our lives were overturned completely by this. When we found out about the car it aggravated our grief," the mother of four said.
She said the family were angry with both defendants. "Hibernian knew it had paid out on the car but it took us on.," she said.
She told Mr Justice Butler that the garage and the insurance company should apologise.
At that stage Counsel for Al Hayes Motors said it regretted what had happened, saying "It is a human tragedy."
He explained that liability had been admitted, that the garage had taken over the defence of the action and it clearly regretted the sorrow caused.
From Indo
QUOTEEMMETT Fagan was only 16 when he died after the car he was driving went off the road, over a ditch and into a field just four miles from his home.
Ten years on, the family of the Leaving Cert student yesterday settled an action for damages against the garage which had sold them a defective car.
Just a few months after the tragic New Year's Day 1997 accident, it transpired that the almost new car, which the Fagan family had bought for IR£26,450 a year earlier, had been written off in a previous accident before it was repaired and sold on to them.
Emmett's father Eamon Fagan of Ballyheelan, Kilnaleck, Co Cavan, had sued Al Hayes Motors Ltd of Cooleen, Churchill, Ballyshrule, Ballinasloe, Co Galway and Hibernian Insurance, Haddington Road, Dublin.
After two hours of talks yesterday, Counsel for Mr Fagan, Padraig McCartan SC told the High Court the matter had been settled.
He said Mr Fagan had bought the 1995-registered Audi car from Al Hayes Motors on January 23, 1996 for £26,450. Mr Fagan, he said, was told it had belonged to somebody else and had been in a small accident sustaining some wing damage.
Counsel said Mr Fagan accepted that, but 13 months later his son took the car out and drove it. The car went up on a ditch and into a field. The school boy died as a result of the injuries sustained.
The family, he said, subsequently discovered that the car had been involved in a serious accident when it was previously owned and Hibernian Insurance had paid out £22,000 in respect of the compensation claim on that accident.
Al Hayes Motors, counsel said, had bought the "wreck", repaired it and "put it back on the road".
Mr McCartan said it later transpired that the car was defective: component parts of the chassis were out of joint and the steering mechanism was not completely repaired. "It was a defective car," counsel said.
He said a full defence was delivered by both defendants but liability was later admitted.
Counsel for Al Hayes Motors told the court that the garage had taken over the defence of the case and it accepts it is completely responsible.
Mr Fagan had claimed that it was implied that Al Hayes Motors warranted that the car was roadworthy, in good mechanical order and free from defects. It was claimed the tyres of the car were wearing off unevenly; the timing belt slipped off the engine; the steering components were faulty and the chassis and suspensions were damaged.
'We are devastated. He was our only son. Our lives were
overturned
completely by this'
Emmett's mother Maureen yesterday told the court how her family had been devastated by his death.
Showing a photograph of her dead son to the court, Mrs Fagan said he was a great lad whom everybody loved. Her son was about to do his Leaving Cert, she said and it had been hoped he would join his father in the glazing business.
"We are devastated. He was our only son. Our lives were overturned completely by this. When we found out about the car it aggravated our grief," the mother of four said.
She said the family were angry with both defendants. "Hibernian knew it had paid out on the car but it took us on.," she said.
She told Mr Justice Butler that the garage and the insurance company should apologise.
At that stage Counsel for Al Hayes Motors said it regretted what had happened, saying "It is a human tragedy."
He explained that liability had been admitted, that the garage had taken over the defence of the action and it clearly regretted the sorrow caused.
