A man had drunk 13 vodkas and four pints of beer before he fell off a bar stool and was crippled for life, the High Court in Belfast was told yesterday.
Mr William Joy (37), a butcher, of Prince's Avenue, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, is claiming compensation against publican Mr Michael Newell, who owned the Copper Room bar in Cookstown where Mr Joy fell off a 30-inch stool and fractured his neck in 1989. Mr Newell, who has since sold the pub, denied liability.
Mr John Gillen QC, for Mr Joy, said after leaving work in the Unipork factory, Mr Joy went to the local Royal British Legion Club and drank 10 vodkas and four pints of beer.
He then went to the Central Inn and had three more vodkas and some other drink. "When he got to the Copper Room he was intoxicated," said Mr Gillen.
"The evidence will be that he was staggering when he entered the pub. He sat on a high bar stool with no back. Despite his drunken state he was served alcohol - a vodka and orange - as he sat on the stool with his head lying on the bar counter. Eventually the inevitable happened - the stool toppled and he fell off."
Mr Gillen said Mr Joy was now "a virtual paraplegic who requires care eight hours a day".
He said after Mr Joy fell he was lifted by bar staff, including the publican Mr Newell, and placed on a seat leaning against a wall. He remained there until closing time when he was carried outside and driven home.
Mr Gillen said: "The court will hear that the defendant [Mr Newell] and bar staff - and this is a significant matter - gave incorrect information to the police. They denied that they had served drink. They said he was drunk when he came in and attempted to avoid any blame by giving an untruthful account."
Mr Gillen told the trial judge, Mr Justice Campbell, his client needed a purpose-built bungalow estimated to cost £130,000. He said caring costs to date amounted £123,000 and in time Mr Joy would probably need a live-in carer at a cost of £34,000 a year.