The High Court has been hearing evidence in a claim for an injury due to slipping and falling in a hotel lobby on Easter Sunday in 2009.
Benjamin Stanley (67) – former council worker and farmer – sustained his injury on 12th April 2009 while attending a dance at the Castle Arms Hotel in Durrow, County Laois. According to his testimony in court, Benjamin had been dancing with several ladies after dinner and, when they said they wanted to leave, he escorted them to their car.
On his return to the hotel, Benjamin decided to visit the bathroom. As he walked across the lobby of the Castle Arms Hotel, he slipped and fell. Unaware of any injury, Benjamin continue to enjoy the evening; but, after driving himself back to his home in Birr, County Offaly, he started to feel an intense pain in his shoulder.
A doctor was called and Benjamin was diagnosed with a torn tendon in his shoulder – one which ultimately required surgery to repair. Still in pain, Benjamin consulted a solicitor and made a claim for an injury due to slipping and falling in a hotel lobby – alleging that his accident was attributable to a failure to properly monitor and control the condition of the floor.
Seosamh Murphy and Dal Riada Taverns Ltd – respectively the owner and licensee of the Castle Arms Hotel – denied their liability for Benjamin´s accident and injury. They testified at the High Court hearing that the floor was checked every two hours by hotel employees, and asserted that Benjamin had been rushing when he made his way to the bathroom and he was the victim of his own misfortune.
During his cross-examination, Benjamin denied that he had been rushing, or – as it had been alleged – he had been drinking during the course of the evening. He said that he definitely felt something under his shoe when he slipped and it was that which was the cause of his injury.
Unable to reach a verdict in one day, Mr Justice Anthony Barr adjourned the claim for an injury due to slipping and falling in a hotel lobby.