The High Court dismissed Sylvia Deehan’s personal injuries action against Loughinstown Inns Limited, trading as The Lough Inn Public House, following an appeal from a failed Circuit Court action. In a judgment delivered on 1 April 2014, Mr Justice Barrett accepted Ms Deehan’s account of how she was injured but found that the pub had not been shown to have failed to take reasonable steps to protect patrons from foreseeable risks.
The incident happened at The Lough Inn on the evening of 21 January 2011 during a ticketed “Ladies’ Evening”. The entertainment area was less than half full. During the event, a spot prize was thrown into the audience. Several people jumped to catch it, and Ms Deehan said someone pushed against her. She fell and struck her leg on a loudspeaker on the floor.
The court heard conflicting evidence about what happened. It preferred Ms Deehan’s account, which was corroborated in important respects by a disc jockey who witnessed much of the incident. The judge found, on the balance of probabilities, that her account was substantively true. The judgment does not identify the nature of her injuries.
Ms Deehan’s counsel argued that a heightened duty of care applied because she had paid to attend an organised event. The court considered earlier decisions concerning paid entrants to events and foreseeable risks at licensed premises. It concluded that a pub operator must take reasonable steps against foreseeable dangers, but is not required to guard against improbable events or every danger patrons might encounter. The practicality and cost of safeguards are relevant.
The judge found that the pub had cleared a space for entertainment, set aside one alcove for it and cordoned off another for the disc jockey. It was not proved that the loudspeaker had been negligently positioned; the evidence instead suggested care had been taken over its placement. The court also said that effectively preventing injury from any fall would require impractical and costly measures. It found no additional safeguard that had been shown to be required in the circumstances.
The judgment said a fall at a venue where alcohol had been consumed and spirits were high was not improbable, and that reasonable safeguards had been taken. It also found that, if the case were treated as one of contract, Ms Deehan had undertaken to take reasonable care for her own safety and accept dangers inherent in the party game. The court expressed sympathy for her injuries, but held that the action must fail.