An 11-year-old boy from Claxton Bay, whose finger was partially severed by a faulty toilet door at his school in 2010, has received $20,000 in compensation.
High Court Judge Frank Seepersad ordered the award after ruling that officials at the Macaulay Government Primary School were negligent in the incident in which Nickel Audhan, of Boodoo Trace, Hermitage Village, Claxton Bay, was injured.
Delivering an oral ruling at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, Seepersad said school administrators should always be cognisant of the vulnerability of young children left without adult supervision.
“Admittedly, the level of vulnerability and the supervision that is required decreases with the passage of time. Once a clearly-defined drop off time has been determined by the school, systems must be put in place to ensure that small children are adequately supervised until their respective class teachers arrive,” Seepersad said.
He ordered that Audhan’s compensation be deposited in an interest-bearing account in the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), which he would only be able to access when he turns 18. Seepersad also noted that school administrators had a responsibility to ensure students are supervised at school facilities even before and after operating hours.
“Anything short of such arrangement is an abdication of the responsibility placed on schools both under the common law and by virtue of the Education Act.”
According to the evidence in the case the incident occurred around 8 am on February 2, 2010. Audhan, who was then five-years-old, was attempting to push open the door to the school’s toilet when it swung back, squeezing his little finger between it and a metal door frame. A small portion of his finger was completely severed.
In his judgment, Seepersad rejected the evidence of the school’s principal who claimed that the school should not be held to be negligent as it warned students regularly of the issues with the toilet doors.
He said that in addition to failing to address the doors, the school also failed to ensure that its students were supervised when using the facilities.
In a telephone interview, Audhan’s mother, Yvonne, said that her son recovered well from his injury but still suffers some pain and discomfort whenever the finger is pressed firmly.
She said that the incident did not affect his studies as this year he passed for the Open Bible Secondary School but did face some bullying due to the scar from the injury.
“He told me that sometimes the other children laugh at his finger but I told him to ignore them because you know what really happened to it,” she said.
Audhan was represented by Rennie Gosine, while Kendra Mark and Natoya Moore represented the State.