State to compensate Barataria woman for NAPA fall

File photo: National Academy for the Performing Arts (Napa) Port of Spain.
File photo: National Academy for the Performing Arts (Napa) Port of Spain.

A BARATARIA woman who slipped on a staircase at the Lord Kitchener Auditorium of the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) Port of Spain in 2013, will receive compensation for pain and suffering.

High Court judge Margaret Mohammed yesterday awarded Annmarie Allison Wilson compensation totalling just under $.1million after she fell, injuring her back, lower hip and elbow on December 12, 2013.

In her ruling, Mohammed found the State negligent for not warning people accessing the backstage area of the auditorium of the apparent danger.

She awarded Wilson $60,000 in general damages for pain and suffering; $8,102.50 in special damages and $30,000 for future surgery.

Mohammed, in her ruling, also did not attribute any fault to Wilson who was represented by attorneys Keith Scotland and Keisha Kydd Hannibal while Brenston Francois and Ryaka Ragbir represented the Attorney General.

In Mohammed’s decision, she said Wilson successfully proved she was an invited guest to NAPA and not a trespasser to the backstage area as alleged by the State.

In her testimony during the trial in October, Wilson denied she was in an unauthorised area backstage when the accident happened. She was at NAPA to pick up her daughter after a school concert.

Her lawsuit claimed the marble staircase was dimly lit and she lost her footing, slipped and fell down five steps. She reported the incident to the police, and was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where she was treated.

In her lawsuit, she said she has headaches, pain, limited range of motion and spent a little over $41,000 in medical expenses, which she is seeking to recover from the State.

During her testimony, Wilson insisted there were no signs saying she should not be in the area in which she fell.

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