Jazz fan fell at Ronnie Scott's because she was drunk, obese and wearing high-heels, judge rules

An 18-stone jazz fan who sued for compensation after an accident at Ronnie Scott's was fat, drunk and careless in her high heels, a judge found.

Eren Hussein, 53, blamed dim lighting at the world famous Soho club after breaking her wrist and elbow falling down stairs after a party in 2012.

She wanted thousands in damages, but after a civil trial this week, a judge threw out her claim, saying the fall wasn't the club's fault.

Eren Hussein

Judge Heather Baucher QC said Mrs Hussein was intoxicated, obese, wearing shoes with high platform heels, and not taking care by holding the bannister as she descended.

"In her inebriated, obese state on three-inch platforms, that would be an obvious, simple step for anyone presented with what they saw as a hazard," she said.

During the trial, the company director, from Lower Clapton, said she had been at a birthday party with her pregnant daughter-in-law when the accident happened in March 2012.

After missing a step outside an upstairs lounge, 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 the judge.

"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 mother, who has since shed five stones of weight, told the court she was walking down the left side of the stairs, whereas the banister was on the right.

But Judge Baucher said, given her size at the time, that should not have prevented Mrs Hussein using the rail as she walked down the metre-wide stairway.

"Mrs Hussein, at 115kg, must have taken up much of the width of the stairway," said the judge, "but for some inexplicable reason, she did not use the handrail."

Earlier, Mrs Hussein said she had drunk no more than a glass and a half of champagne and a glass of red wine, and was not tipsy.

But the club's barrister Catherine Foster pointed out medical records from her arrival at hospital, in which she was described as "obviously drunk" and "intoxicated".

In her ruling, Judge Baucher found Mrs Hussein was under the influence, although she said she may have been affected by painkillers and the fact she had not had alcohol for six months before the accident.

"I find that the notes in the hospital records referred to her being intoxicated because she was so," said the judge.

There was nothing wrong with the lighting in the stairwell, continued Judge Baucher, who visited the scene of the accident during the trial.

Hundreds of people use the stairs every week and yet there had only been one other report of a person falling down, she said.

Mrs Hussein had fallen because she had missed her step, something for which Ronnie Scott's management could not be blamed.

"In ordinary circumstances, she, like countless others, would have descended the staircase and gone home," continued the judge.

"However, on that evening, whether due to one or more of the factors - painkillers, weight, shoes, drink - she simply missed her footing.

"I find she did so through no fault on the part of Ronnie Scott's."

Her damages claim was rejected.