A Dublin nightclub, Lillies Bordello, has been ordered by a judge to pay a Co Dublin couple who were refused entry to the "night club to the stars" more than €27,000 for injuries caused by the club's bouncers.
Judge Joseph Mathews accepted in the Ciruit Civil Court yesterday that Vincent and Pamela Lawlor had been the victims of a commando-like assault by doormen led by a former Yugoslav special forces soldier who had been trained in unarmed combat.
"Their response was an over-reaction by a team which acted more like a commando unit responding to an urgent situation than a group which should have applied diplomacy, tact and communications skills to diffuse a situation they saw as threatening," Judge Mathews said.
He told Mr Raymond Delahunt, counsel for the Lawlors, of Sound View, Tucket's Lane, Howth, that excessive force used by the club's bouncers constituted a disproportionate response to what they had perceived as a threat.
"There is no question on the evidence but that Mr Lawlor and his wife were assaulted, but that does not mean I discount as unworthy of consideration the evidence given on behalf of the club," Judge Mathews said.
The court heard that the Lawlors and their friends, Libero and Marilyn Borza, of Templeview Green, Clarehall, Malahide Road, Co Dublin, had been refused entry on the same night that Boyzone member Keith Duffy and a group of his friends had been ejected from the club following an earlier row.
Mr Lawlor, a 40-year-old sales director, and his wife, Pamela, told the court that when he [Mr Lawlor\] questioned the refusal at a time when others were freely being allowed into the club, he had been lifted by his shirt off his feet by bouncer Dermot Mulholland and thrown on his back on to Grafton Street.
He had then been held on his back by two bouncers while Mulholland and Dino Vidan punched and kicked him in his chest, arms and head. Mrs Lawlor said that another bouncer, Jonathan Dargan, had pinned her arms against her body from behind and had held her off the ground as her husband was being kicked.
The Borzas told the court that they had never seen anything like what had happened on Grafton Street that night. Both had thought Mr Lawlor would die as they saw him being kicked on the head.
Mulholland told the court that Mr Lawlor had been wearing a beer-stained shirt and, while he had been coherent, it was obvious that he had a few drinks on him. When he told Mr Lawlor that he was admitting members only, Mr Lawlor had become aggressive and argumentative. He had said to Dino Vidan: "This arsehole won't let me in. Can you let me in?" Mr Lawlor had then attempted to head-butt him on the chin. Mr Lawlor wrestled with him and they had slipped on wet tiles and had fallen on the street. No one had punched or kicked Mr Lawlor.
Dino Vidan told Mr Michael Byrne, counsel for the club, that on the Saturday night in question he had been acting manager in the absence of the club manager, Ms Valerie Roe. The club had 1,500 members, each of whom were issued with numbered key rings which were used as entry passes. The club had a capacity of 800 and only members were being allowed in on the night/early morning of February 20th/21st, 1999, when the Lawlors and their friends had sought entry.
Vidan told Mr Delahunt that he was a Croatian citizen and had been trained as a commando with the special forces of the former Yugoslav army. He remembered the incident involving Boyzone member Keith Duffy, but could not be certain if it was the same night.
Vidan said that Pamela Lawlor had acted in a threatening and aggressive manner. She had been restrained for her own safety.
When Vidan told the court that he had received training in unarmed combat, Judge Mathews said that he would be "a machine" in comparison with Mr Lawlor in any struggle which might have ensued.
Judge Mathews said that the bouncers had been anxious to get rid of someone they saw as insulting and provocative and they had acted with excessive zeal and disregard for the safety of Mr Lawlor.
Mr Lawlor had received injuries to his head and torso and Mrs Lawlor had suffered serious post-traumatic stress. Both their business and social lives had been affected and, in assessing damages, he would not distinguish between either physical or mental injury as suffered by the Lawlors.
He awarded the Lawlors €13,700 each.