Man: Santa Ponsa trip grounded by stair slip

A 59-year-old Cork man who was about to leave home for a holiday in Santa Ponza slipped on the stairs of his local authority flat complex and yesterday he commenced a High Court case against Cork City Council.

William Busteed was at home on Saturday, May 9, 2009, and had “a couple of small bottles of Budweiser” as he got ready for his trip. He denied defence claims he was incapacitated due to intoxication at the time.

Before describing his fall on what he said was a wet stairwell, Mr Busteed went into some detail about the smoke alarm. He said that the alarm in the six-unit complex went off on average twice a week. He said when this occurred, vents in the ceiling over the stairwell opened and let rain in until they were closed by a council official.