Damage done by children.
If a neighbour's
child causes damage to a property, a
conciliatory approach to settle the matter
is probably the best solution. Legally, the
child can be sued for damages if s/he is old
enough to know what s/he was doing. In
practice, this is unrealistic since few
courts would look favourably on such an
action, and a child is unlikely to have much
money to pay any damages.
However, the parents of the child may be
liable for negligence and damages if they
have trusted the child with something
dangerous that was beyond her/his capability
to use responsibly, for example, an air gun.
The parents may also be liable if they have
failed to exercise the control that would be
expected of a parent given the child's age.