A Donegal family have won a landmark case in the UK against a newsagent who refused entry to the family over a service dog.
Katy Tyrrell McCafferty and her two sons, who both have autism, were told to leave a London newsagent in April 2015 over her older son Jimmy’s service dog Kizzy.
The family were then unable to top up their Oyster card and were fined 40 pounds on a bus to the West End.
Katy and her sons took the newsagents to court and yesterday won damages of £6,600, as well as having their legal fees covered. The court will hold the money in trust, although Katy had hoped it could go to charity.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Katy said “I had hoped any damages received could be given to charity but that cannot be done as Jim is a child his damages of £6,600 will be held in trust and only spent on his needs as decided by the court who will hold the money and the trustees although the Judge did admire that Jimmy through me did not make the decision to take the shop to court for monetary gain.
“Jimmy won his case and became a history maker the Case McCafferty Vs Miah will probably be quoted in years to come. I cannot thank my legal team enough.”
This was the first case in the UK that used equality legislation for a child and for a non-guide dog related legal case, according to Donegal Now.
The Independent