Late to the party but I'm utterly baffled by this
We don't (didn't) know the ins and outs of who took which boot when, but a neutral assumption is they got switched by accident and neither girl really noticed. If both pairs were new I can easily believe this, new boots are tight until they wear in etc
One got lost while under the other girls care
If we change the scenario and say two adult women were at a lunch, identical brand new iPhone in the table close to each other. As one leaves they grab the wrong one, other woman grabs the one left behind without realising either.
Five mins later getting into a car one drops the phone, smashing and breaking it beyond repair. While sobbing over the broken bits she notices a tiny sticker on the back and realises it isn't hers, must be other woman's
Are you telling me that you think innocent woman with wrong phone unknowingly in her pocket should hand this over to the other woman with a broken phone, without any question of who is paying to replace her brand new phone?
Would you do that if another mum had nicked your phone by accident at a party then smashed it? 'Oh yes, this is yours, here you go, nevermind mine - that's my problem'??
I'd be asking for replacement value
Maybe a phone is a bad example because it's needed all day long.
I'm on your side OP, and not at all surprised to see you're proved right and the other dad is proved a shyster. I'm amazed most other MNs decided to concoct a scenario in which your DD was at fault and this other person was completely without fault based on no evidence at all