Verdict on bar stool fall reserved

Judgment has been reserved in a compensation claim brought by a man who was crippled when he allegedly fell off a pub's bar stool…

Judgment has been reserved in a compensation claim brought by a man who was crippled when he allegedly fell off a pub's bar stool while drunk.

Mr William Joy (37) had already taken 13 vodkas and four pints of beer before he went into the Copper Room bar in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, in 1989. He was so drunk he could not remember being in the pub, let alone falling, the High Court in Belfast was told.

Mr Joy, of Princess Avenue, Cookstown, fractured his neck. He is now confined to a wheelchair. He sued Mr Michael Newell, owner of the Copper Room, who denied liability. Mr Newell has since sold the premises.