A burglar who injured his scrotum in a botched raid is taking legal action against the store for injuries, the shop owner has claimed.

Kevin Victory, who runs the Centra in Kingscourt, Co Cavan, said a solicitor representing the thief had sent a letter claiming damages for the injuries the man received on the premises.

He spoke to Joe Duffy about the events on RTÉ Radio One's Liveline about the events which he said left him "stunned".

Mr Victory said he initially ignored this letter, but subsequently was issued with a letter from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).

He now has 90 days from when it was received to decide if he wants the PIAB to assess the injury. He said it was his understanding that his insurance broker would not respond, and insists it holds no responsibility for any injury incurred.

According to the shop owner, the incident took place on November 20, 2015, at around midnight. Mr Victory received a phone call from a neighbour saying there was a robbery taking place, and that he had phoned gardaí.

There happened to be an armed Garda unit in the area at the time, and it attended the scene. Gardaí turned down a lane where they saw three men, who immediately ran back into the shop, where there was an initial standoff.

It's understood that one of the men injured his scrotum trying to escape the shop, and was taken to hospital. All three men were arrested and given six-month suspended sentences. However, one of them was jailed for a subsequent offence.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One, Mr Victory said there were almost €3,000 of damages caused to his shop.

Mr Victory told the Irish Independent he was stunned a solicitor would take on such a case. He said he hoped that by raising awareness of the situation a change could be made in the law to prevent such cases being taken.

"I was just stunned, absolutely stunned when I got the letter," Mr Victory said.

"The insurance company has refused to engage with PIAB or accept any responsibility. I'm just trying to highlight that this is happening and maybe we might need to change the law."

A spokesman for the PIAB said it would not comment on specific cases - and if it does not consent to the claim being assessed then no fee is necessary.

"While we cannot comment on any individual case, when we receive a claim we are required by law to write to the person the claim is made against, giving them the option of having the case assessed by PIAB, which is a low-cost and quick system," he said. "If they do not consent to PIAB assessing the claim, then they are not liable for the fee and the claimant is authorised to take the case to court if they wish."

Irish Independent