Woman sues Ronnie Scott's after breaking wrist in fall in 'dimly lit' stairwell

ONE TIME USE P25 EDITION 21.02.17 Eren Hussein, 53, fell over and broke her wrist and elbow while leaving Ronnie Scott's
Paul Keogh
John Dunne @jhdunne21 February 2017

A music fan who blames dim lighting for a nasty fall at Ronnie Scott’s is suing for “substantial” damages.

Eren Hussein, 53, broke her elbow and two bones in her wrist after she fell down in a “very dimly lit” stairwell on her way out of the Soho jazz club.

In a court claim, the company director, of Lower Clapton, Hackney, says the world famous venue should pay her thousands in compensation.

But the club’s owners say lighting was perfectly adequate and there was a handrail which Mrs Hussein could have used.

Giving evidence at Central London County Court, Mrs Hussein, who weighed 18st at the time, said she had been left with “very painful” injuries after her fall.

She had been at a birthday party in March 2012 and was on her way out with her heavily pregnant daughter-in-law when she had the accident.

Eren Hussein denies being drunk at the time of the fall

After missing a step close to the top of the stairs, she fell, tumbling down one flight, round a corner and down another, she said.

“It was dark, it was dim and I didn’t see my step as I was going down,” she told Judge Heather Baucher QC.

“I tumbled over and over and over and I injured myself very badly.

“I recall landing on my neck and the back of my head as well.”

The court heard there had been a handrail on only one side of the flight of stairs, which lead from an upstairs lounge to the lower floor.

But Mrs Hussein had allowed her seven months pregnant daughter-in-law to use it and instead walked on the other side of the stairs.

Lawyers for the club say that, given her size at the time, whether she was on the right or left, she would still have been able to reach the rail.

The lighting was considered adequate in the stairwell, which was also an emergency exit, the court was told.

The judge was also referred to medical notes following Mrs Hussein’s arrival at St Thomas’ Hospital in an ambulance.

In the document, a doctor or nurse had recorded “intoxicated” as their impression of the patient.

But Mrs Hussein, who had been given gas and air due to her pain, vehemently denied that she was drunk.

She had not had a drink in six months before the accident and had only a glass and a half of champagne and a small amount of red wine before the fall, she said.

“It could be from the gas and air,” she said, explaining why medics might have thought she was drunk.

Her barrister, Kiril Waite, argues that lighting in the stairwell was not good enough and that an adequate risk assessment had not been carried out.

If Mrs Hussein’s claim is successful, her compensation payout will then be assessed, if not agreed.

The hearing continues.

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