A man who was seriously burned after dousing himself with petrol which ignited during a scuffle in his local bank yesterday lost his High Court claim for damages against the bank.
Ms Justice McGuinness dismissed Mr John Coffey's claim for damages against Bank of Ireland but hoped the bank had learned lessons from the case. The court had heard the bank had sought to commit Mr Coffey to prison over disputed arrears of interest on a loan.
The judge asked if it was really necessary to pursue a sum of £1,300 to the gates of Mountjoy Prison. "Does it not move one to agree with the psalmist when he declared that the man who would dwell in the Lord's tabernacle was `he that hath not given his money upon usury'? I will say no more", the judge added.
She also contrasted the treatment, by banks in general, of large and small debtors. It was quite rare to see large debtors committed to prison.
Mr John Coffey (40), a general operative, of Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary, sued Bank of Ireland arising out of an incident at the bank's Cahir, Co Tipperary, branch, in September 1993.
The court was told Mr Coffey poured petrol over himself following what he claimed was a refusal by the bank manager to hand over a file. It was alleged Mr Coffey had held a cigarette lighter and when gardai arrived there was a scuffle and the petrol ignited. Mr Coffey was seriously burned.
In court yesterday Mr Murray McGrath SC, in his closing submission for the bank, said it beggared belief to suggest a responsible bank manager would ignore a man covered with petrol for 10 to l5 minutes. There was no evidence to support a claim by Mr Coffey of such a delay. The judge held the bank officials had acted as quickly as they could in relation to the incident.
She said Mr Coffey had taken out a loan of £2,000 in 1985. About £3,000 had been paid back, including £2,000 paid by his elderly and ill father, who had gone guarantor for the loan. Interest was still owed.
The bank had sought to commit Mr Coffey to prison, the judge said. It was a decision not taken by the manager at the Cahir branch but by his superiors in the system.
Ms Justice McGuinness said that on December 8th, 1993, Mr Coffey had been in imminent danger of being imprisoned for a debt of about £1,300. He went to see the bank manager and asked for his file or a copy of it.
She accepted the bank manager tried to explain to Mr Coffey his right to certain information under the Data Protection Act. Mr Coffey, who was extremely stressed, was not prepared to listen, got the petrol from the car, returned, and having again been refused his file, asked the bank manager if that was his last word.
Mr Coffey then poured the petrol over himself and had a cigarette lighter in his hand. The situation must have been terrifying, the judge said. She accepted the manager and an assistant acted as quickly as they could. The manager gave Mr Coffey water and produced a fire extinguisher.
The bank's duty of care was in relation to a foreseeable danger. She had to decide whether what happened to Mr Coffey was caused by his own action and was really foreseeable by the bank manager.
Where a customer was about to be imprisoned by a bank, one could see that person would be stressed, angry and abusive, but it was not foreseeable that he would douse himself with petrol and set himself alight. She dismissed the claim.
The judge noted situations where banks and financial institutions have written off large debts and contrasted that with Mr Coffey's situation.
Mr Coffey, on the other hand, had been a person with no clout and no background in his dealings with the bank.
She said her reference to the bank in this situation was as an institution and not a reference to the local bank manager in Cahir.
Mr Joseph Finnegan SC, for Mr Coffey, said the court's decision would come as no surprise to their client. Mr Coffey's sense of grievance was evident, and his prospects of success were always slim, but to some extent they may have "laid this ghost to rest". From 1985 to 1993 Mr Coffey's life had been made a misery.
Mr Justice McGuinness said she would make no order as to costs.
Earlier Mrs Maura Walsh, a bank employee, said she telephoned for gardai after Mr Coffey doused himself in petrol. The bank manager was trying to placate Mr Coffey and gave him a bucket of water. Mr Coffey splashed the contents over his face.
When the gardai came there was a scuffle, she saw flames, there was a "big whoosh" and flames rose to the ceiling. The manager immediately put out the flames with the extinguisher.