A five-year-old boy has won a case of defamation against supermarket chain Lidl after he was accused of theft.
The boy, Tadhg Mooney, of Balbriggan in County Dublin, was shopping with his mother Rachel in a Lidl store when he was accused by a shop assistant.
The court was told how the assistant had grabbed the boy’s arm and falsely imprisoned him in their local store on 24 June 2009.
The boy’s barrister, Alison McIntyre, told the court that Tadhg’s reputation had also been discredited by the false accusation. The Circuit Civil Court was also told that Tadhg, now aged six, had suffered distress and inconvenience.
Lidl Ireland Ltd offered to pay Tadhg 7,500 euros in damages and cover his costs.
