Teacher, 36, sues the owners of top wedding venue for £150,000 claiming she slipped on a spilt beer on the dancefloor at reception and broke her elbow
- Cara Donovan was left in agony after losing her footing at Leez Priory in Essex
A teacher is suing the owners of a top wedding venue for £150,000, claiming she slipped on a spilt beer on the dancefloor and broke her elbow.
Cara Donovan, 36, says she was left in agony and covered in beer after losing her footing at Leez Priory, an award-winning 16th century Tudor mansion in 40 acres of grounds in Essex which has repeatedly been voted the UK’s Best Wedding Venue.
Mrs Donovan, a special needs teacher, had been in the venue’s disco room during a friend’s wedding when she slipped on the laminated plastic dancefloor, lit by underfloor LED lights.
The accident in September 2018 left her with a badly broken elbow and, despite three operations, she still suffers pain and loss of function in her arm, impacting on her work and home life.
This week, she is suing Country House Weddings Ltd, the company which runs the venue, for a payout of up to £150,000 at Central London County Court.
Cara Donovan, 36, says she was left in agony and covered in beer after losing her footing at Leez Priory, an award-winning 16th century Tudor mansion in 40 acres of grounds which has repeatedly been voted the UK’s Best Wedding Venue
Cara Donovan and husband Lee Pierson outside Central London County Court
The company denies liability for the accident, disputing whether Mrs Donovan slipped in spilled beer and pointing out that drinks were banned from the dancefloor.
The court heard the high-tech light-up dancefloor had been purchased and fitted in the cellar of the manor house, which was built at Great Leighs, near Chelmsford, in the 1500s on the site of a 13th century Augustine priory and visited by Queen Elizabeth I.
The supplier had warned that the surface of the dancefloor was very slippery and that no drinks should be taken onto it, the teacher’s lawyers claim.
However, little was done to prevent people drinking on the dancefloor, Mrs Donovan says.
She told Judge Heather Baucher that the wedding band had finished and guests had been invited into the disco room on a lower floor at the venue when she slipped.
‘I had not been dancing long, probably four or five different songs, when suddenly my feet shot from under me and I crashed down on my right side,’ she said from the witness box.
‘I could feel the wet on my dress. I was sure it was beer because it smelt strongly of beer.’
Mrs Donovan said her dress had been left ruined as she was covered in beer and she spent the rest of the wedding reception sat down in agony.
The Romford mother-of-two had three operations to fix the break, but her arm has been left permanently painful, stiff and weak, hampering her ability write, drive, use a keyboard or use any two-handed machinery.
Her barrister, Philip Goddard, claimed that the company was at fault because it did not do enough to enforce its ‘no drinks on the dancefloor’ policy.
The underfloor lights of the dancefloor made it hard for guests to see any patches of spilled liquid on its surface, he claims.
For the company, barrister Henry Morton Jack pointed out to Mrs Donovan that there had been warning signs outside the disco room and on the DJ booth inside.
But she told the judge they had not been clear enough.
Leez Priory, an award-winning 16th century Tudor mansion in 40 acres of grounds in Essex, has repeatedly been voted the UK’s Best Wedding Venue
Giving evidence, Mrs Donovan’s husband, Lee Pierson, told the judge he had seen warning signs, but so many people were drinking on the dancefloor that he thought it was only for show and no members of staff were ‘policing’ the rule anyway
‘I didn’t see any signs telling people not to take drinks on to the floor,’ she said.
‘People were taking drinks continuously in and out of the disco room, so obviously people didn’t see them either.’
Giving evidence, Mrs Donovan’s husband, Lee Pierson, told the judge he had seen warning signs, but so many people were drinking on the dancefloor that he thought it was only for show and no members of staff were ‘policing’ the rule anyway.
‘There was no sign of anyone doing anything to stop guests taking drinks on the dance floor,’ he said.
Questioned why he hadn’t mentioned any liquid on the floor in the aftermath of the fall, he added: ‘I wasn’t looking for liquid on the floor. Cara was screaming in pain, so I was more interested in getting her up.’
For the company, Mr Morton Jack said it was disputed that the dancefloor had been wet with beer, with neither the DJ, nor other staff, seeing anything.
‘The evidence of the defendant is that there was nothing to clean up,’ he told the court.
He said that there was a clear rule at the venue that drinks should not be take onto the dancefloor, with signage and the DJ spelling out a warning.
During its events, guests would sometimes take their drinks onto the floor, he said, but those instances were ‘infrequent, occasional and dealt with at the time.’
The trial continues.
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