Liability after a football incident - rechtswinkel.nl

Questioner

The question here is who is liable for the damage: My 8 year old son was playing football with a friend. A group of girls (I estimate 14/15/16 years old) were there (on the football field) and one of the girls was bothering them; she kept kicking the ball far out of the field and pulling on it. My son told her to stop, but she kept going. At one point he said he was going to get his father, whereupon she pulled on him, he pulled himself away and kicked the ball to her out of frustration. In doing so, the phone she was holding fell to the ground. By the way, the phone was not hers, but her friend's who was standing next to her. The screen was broken and then the entire group (including the mother of the person whose phone it was) went to our house and demanded that we pay for the damage. Now my question is whether my son is liable for this, since the girl repeatedly provoked him and was on the football field. In other words: should we pay for the damage or the provocative girl, who had her friend's phone and dropped it after the ball was kicked? Because it feels so unfair...

Lawyer

It seems that you are not liable. I understand that your son kicked the ball towards the girl while he was breaking free. I advise you to report the incident in writing to your own third-party liability insurance. If you do not have this, I advise you to also deny and dispute any written notice of liability in writing.

Questioner

He kicked the ball, after he had pulled away, towards the girl. So not during the pulling away, but right after. Does the same apply then?

Lawyer

I think so.