Pizza delivery man loses case after alleging he was bitten by dog through letterbox
Bernie Fitzgerald and her dog Nelson at their home in Portobello, Dublin last night
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A DUBLIN couple who were sued after their dog allegedly bit a man through their letter box revealed last night that their biggest worry was that their "darling Nelson" would be put down.
Pizza delivery driver Arpit Khurana sued Vincent and Bernie Fitzgerald, of Windsor Terrace in Portobello, Dublin, and Apache Pizza for €38,000.
He claimed the couple's Alsatian dog snapped at his hand when he pushed flyers into their letter box. But his claims were struck out yesterday at the Circuit Civil Court.
Mr Khurana (22) bit off more than he could chew when he called to the Fitzgeralds' home in October 2009 and claimed the couple's eight-year-old dog bit him, causing his finger to bleed.
Mrs Fitzgerald last night said that her biggest worry over the past three years was that Nelson would be put down as a result of the case.
"Over my dead body would I have allowed him to be put down; I would never have allowed that to happen," she said.
"We got Nelson about eight years ago from the ISPCA when he was a puppy and he was skin and bone at the time. He's called after Nelson Mandela because we were in South Africa shortly before we got him.
"He's my little baby boy," she added.
"It's been three years of unbelievable stress for me and my husband. He was looking for a lot of money. As a result of this case taken against us our house insurance went up quite dramatically."
Mr Khurana, of Corn Exchange, Poolbeg Street, Dublin, had yesterday told a judge that when he put his fingers through the letter box he was bitten by the Alsatian dog.
He had been delivering leaflets promoting takeaway pizzas when the incident happened.
He told Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery that on October 19, 2009, he had called to the Fitzgeralds' home and had approached the house through the front garden to push flyers into the letter box.
Mr Khurana said he had just put his hand through when he heard a loud bark and felt his fingers being snapped and pulled through the letter box. He felt an immediate pain to his finger and noticed he was bleeding.
But Judge Deery dismissed Mr Khurana's claim against both defendants.
The judge said that in the case of Apache Pizza, Mr Khurana had been acting as an independent contractor.
With regard to the case against the Fitzgeralds, he said Mr Khurana had no legal permission to put his hand through the letter box and he was not satisfied the incident had happened as outlined by him.
Earlier the court heard that Mr Khurana had not heard any barking as he approached the front door and had not seen any signs warning of a dog.
He denied that he may have injured his hand when he pulled his fingers quickly out of the letter box after having heard the dog growl or bark.
Medical reports revealed that Mr Khurana had suffered an injury to the ring finger of his right hand that required stitching. The cut had gone through to the finger pulp and he had been referred to hospital for dressing of his finger and finger nail and to receive a tetanus vaccine.
Mr Fitzgerald said he had not heard anyone at the door. Mrs Fitzgerald, also a defendant, did not give evidence.
- Mark O'Regan and Saurya Cherfi
Irish Independent
