A 16-year-old schoolgirl was followed around a shop by a member of staff and later told it was because she had stolen from the shop a year earlier, a judge heard on Thursday.
Gretta Cawley, who is now aged 21 and lives at Beaumont Court, Beaumont Woods, Dublin 9, was awarded €10,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court for defamation of character.
Barrister Rory Kennedy, who appeared with Connie Nikaela Rusk of Connolly Finan Fleming Solicitors for Gretta, told the court that CCTV showed the teenager being followed by a man with a phone.
Judge John O’Connor heard that when Gretta had left the shop and returned with a friend she had spoken with the man and the store manager, a lady called Olga, who told her she had been followed because|: “You stole from the shop last year.”
'Misunderstanding'
The judge was told that when Gretta’s mother Marie Cawley visited the shop the owner had apologised “for any misunderstanding” and had then apologised to Gretta who had remained in her mum’s car outside.
Gretta, through her mum, had sued Musgrave Group Plc, trading as ‘Daybreak’ at Rolestown Service Station, Rolestown, Dublin, for €75,000 damages for defamation of character.
Judge O’Connor said that while having been followed in the shop would have been uncomfortable for Gretta it might not in itself constitute defamation. However, she had brought a friend into the shop to inquire about the surveillance and later had been spoken to by staff and on another occasion as she sat in her mum’s car outside the store.
He said the court was satisfied that news of the incident would have got out in the local area. From a publication point of view the evidence of Gretta, her mother and a friend had been unopposed by the defendants, and she must succeed in her claim.
Gretta’s friend told the court that Gretta had “not left her own front door for a very long time” after the incident. She had quit school because of it.
Counsel for the defence said there was no suggestion by Sovereign Retail Limited, trading as Rolestown Service Station, that Gretta was or had been a thief. The court heard that the ‘Daybreak’ shop had changed hands since the January 2017 incident.
