A British hotel guest downed up to 10 shots of spirits in one glass for a party trick before he died from acute alcohol poisoning in Co Tipperary, a court heard today.
Graham Parish was celebrating his 26th birthday when he slumped off his bar stool in the Hayes Hotel in Thurles on June 30th, 2008.
He was carried from the bar to a conference room where he was found, with vomit on his face, by a night porter at 6.15am the following morning.
Bar manager Gary Wright and barman Aidan Dalton have both denied the manslaughter of Mr Parish, from Calder Terrace in Lomeshaye, near Nelson, east Lancashire. The barmen, who are both from Kilfithmone, Borrisoleigh in Co Tipperary, each pleaded not guilty before a jury was sworn in.
The case is the first of its kind under liquor liability laws in Ireland.
Paddy McCarthy SC, for the State told a jury at Nenagh Circuit Court the pair were accused of gross negligence that caused the death of Mr Parish. "The final drink served by the barman and okayed by the manager was eight to 10 spirits in a pint glass,” he said.
Mr McCarthy said Mr Parish died from acute alcohol poisoning.
The barrister said Mr Parish - who was working in the area with colleagues - had been drinking Guinness for more than three hours before one vodka shot was put in his pint which he drank in one go. Two vodka shots were put in another pint he drank, he added.
“Some competition went on and he (Mr Parish) said he could down 10 spirits in a pint glass before his colleagues could down their pint," Mr McCarthy said. “The barman filled it up, asked the manager and the manager gave the ok for the purpose of serving it. He downed the drink in one go.”
Mr Parish, a father of two, was employed by Reliant Installations Ltd in Skipton, North Yorkshire. He had arrived in Thurles on the afternoon of June 30th, 2008 for a job at Dew Valley Foods Ltd in Thurles.
PA