Letterkenny man described as “acting the maggot” after trying to sue bucking bronco company

An 18 year-old County Donegal man who sued an entertainments company called Funky Monkey over a “bucking bronco” was described as “acting the maggot” at Sligo High Court.
Brian McDonagh, from Letterkenny sued Funky Monkey Entertainments after claiming he fell off a bucking bronco on June 26 2010 when he was 13, at Letterkenny Town Park.
One of the owners of the company, told an earlier sitting of the High Court that the plaintiff had thrown himself on the ground and was “acting the maggot”.
In dismissing the claim, Justice Barton said the onus was on the plaintiff to prove his case on the balance of probabilities and he had not done so.
One of the defendants, Stephen Carberry, said the then 13 year-old boy had tried to get on the bucking bronco but was refused, as he had no money.
The plaintiff, Brian McDonagh, who is now 18, disputed this account saying he had queued up for a go on the bull, and Mr Carberry helped him up on the bronco.
He added he was not able to stay on the bull, was thrown backward and landed on an underinflated mattress around the bull as a safety measure and partly on the grass.
He said he hit his head off the ground as he landed.
Mr Carberry rejected this claim at an earlier sitting and said he was packing up the bronco around 4 pm.
He let the air out of the inflatable mattress and took the head of the bull for packing away.
McDonagh then threw himself down on the mattress and the defendant ignored him and continued to put away the equipment, the court heard.
Justice Barton dismissed the claim and said there was no engineering evidence to support Mr McDonaghs claim that he ended up where he was.