A pub customer told the High Court in Belfast yesterday about the night a drunken man fell off a bar stool and was crippled for life. Mr Noel Morton said he heard a crash as the bar stool hit the ground and he saw Mr William Joy lying on the floor.
"He did not move and he did not speak," Mr Morton said.
He was giving evidence at the start of the second week of a compensation claim brought by Mr Joy (37), a bachelor, whose neck was broken in the fall.
He is now a virtual quadriplegic and has sued Mr Michael Newell, landlord of the Copper Room, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, where the accident happened in 1989.
Mr Newell has denied liability and has brought in his insurer Commercial Union as a third party.
Mr Joy, from Princess Avenue, Cookstown, told the court last week he had already downed 13 vodkas and four pints of beer before going into the Copper Room.
He said he was so drunk he could not recall being in the bar let alone the fall which ruined his life.
Mr Morton said he was already in the Copper Room when Mr Joy arrived. "I thought he was drunk because he was staggering and also his general appearance," he said.
"He appeared to ask for a drink and the next thing I saw he was sitting on a stool with a glass in front of him and his head bent over almost touching the counter."
Soon afterwards he heard the crash as Mr Joy fell, and he was lifted up by the bar owner, Mr Newell, and a barman, Mr Maurice Murphy.
Mr Bobby Averell, steward of the local Royal British Legion club where Mr Joy had been drinking earlier, said he felt very guilty when he heard about the tragedy.
If he had gone against his principles and served Mr Joy another two or three vodkas, even though he had already too much to drink, he would probably have fallen asleep in the club.
The hearing continues today.