A woman who claimed she fractured her ankle after tripping and falling while crossing a car park at a rugby club has lost her High Court action.
Mr Justice Anthony Barr found Amy Walsh had consumed a considerable quantity of alcohol prior to arriving at Wexford Wanderers Rugby Club.
He also found she had fallen in the area to the front of the club house just beyond the decking after midnight on May 6th, 2012, but, because she made no complaint about the surface of the car park in that particular area, that was the end of the case.
Ms Walsh, Davitt Road South, Wexford, had sued Wexford Wanderers Rugby Club claiming she fractured her ankle after she allegedly tripped and fell while crossing the car park area.
She claimed there was a hole or depression in the car park, her right foot got caught on a large stone and she went over on her ankle, fracturing it.
The club denied liability and pleaded Ms Walsh fell in a totally different area to that alleged by her and her fall was due to her intoxicated condition.
Hotly contested
Ms Walsh said she had a vodka and 7up at her friends’ house before they left for the rugby club and had a standard mineral bottle in her bag when she arrived at the club which was three quarters full of vodka. She said she had two or three vodkas and 7up at the club and denied she and two friends had 10 to 15 drinks before leaving for the club.
Mr Justice Barr said one of the few uncontroversial facts was that Ms Walsh suffered a fracture to her right ankle but almost every other piece of evidence was hotly contested.
He preferred the accounts of Ms Walsh’s friends Amy Farrell and Ashleigh Casey concerning alcohol consumption. Their account was also supported by a work colleague of Ms Walsh’s who met her on his way out of the rugby club and said she appeared drunk and was slurring her words.
He said Ms Walsh and her friends Ms Farrell and Ms Casey consumed two bottles of vodka, almost two bottles of Peach Schnapps, almost a full bottle of Mickey Finns and a bottle of strawberry and cream shots before leaving the house for the club. The third bottle of vodka was split into two smaller mineral bottles.
The crux of the case concerned where in the car park Ms Walsh fell and what caused her fall.
On the basis of evidence of Ms Farrell and Ms Casey, he found Ms Walsh fell in the area to the front of the club house, just beyond the decking and, because she made no complaint about the surface of the car park there, that was the end of the case. He put a stay on his decision pending any appeal.