Irish boy, 5, accused of stealing crisps wins pay-out
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A five-year-old Irish boy who was wrongly accused of stealing a bag of crisps has won a 7,500-euro (9,700-dollar) pay-out from a supermarket chain, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Tadhg Mooney, of Balbriggan, north of Dublin, had just finished shopping with his mother Rachel at their local Lidl store in June last year when a cashier came after him, taking him by the hand and accusing him of stealing.
Finding him crying inside the store, his mother presented a receipt showing she had paid for the bag, their lawyer Dermot McNamara told AFP.
But the shop manager failed to take her concerns seriously, causing her to take legal proceedings against the firm for slander, for false imprisonment, assault and negligence.
"We managed to settle it over negotiations lasting for a month or two and they eventually gave an offer of 7,500 euros," McNamara said.
The settlement was approved at Ireland's Circuit Civil Court on Tuesday and the money will be set aside for the little boy, now aged six, to use when he is older.