A MAN who slipped on the porch tiles of his Sligo council house after consuming five pints of beer has been awarded €105,000 by the High Court.
Thomas Keegan, 49, sued Sligo County Council after slipping on the tiles of his front porch at McNeill Drive, Cranmore, leaving him with a fractured ankle.
He later had to have an operation and said he still experiences pain in the ankle joint.
Mr Keegan had been returning from a funeral when the accident happened in November 2013.
Sligo County Council said Mr Keegan had consumed five pints of beer on the day of the accident and had failed to take reasonable care for his own safety when entering the house.
Judge Mr Justice Anthony Barr said Mr Keegan candidly admitted to having five pints on the day.
But he added: “Having regard to the fact this is a man who has worked in manual labouring jobs all his life, I decline to make any adverse finding against him having regard to the level of alcohol consumed by him that day.”
After tests were performed on the tiles, engineers for both sides agreed the tiles presented a low risk of slipping when dry and a moderate risk of slipping when wet.
However the engineers disagreed on whether these findings made the tiles inappropriate for use in the porch.
Mr Justice Barr said he was satisfied the tiles were inappropriate for such use.
He accepted Mr Keegan’s evidence that on leaving his house to go to the funeral, he noticed the porch mat was wet and put it on the side gate to dry.
When he returned home, Mr Keegan said the mat had been taken from the gate and so he stepped on to the tiles in the porch.
Mr Justice Barr said Mr Keegan could not be held guilty of contributory negligence in those circumstances.
He awarded Mr Keegan €105,000 but granted a stay on the award in the event of an appeal, providing €30,000 was paid out immediately to the plaintiff.