Ex- footballer left paralysed in Ibiza pool fall given go-ahead for £8.5M claim
An ex-professional footballer left paralysed in a pool fall at an Ibiza nightclub has been given the go-ahead to bring an £8.5 million damages claim in the English courts.
Jonathan Hutchinson - known as Joey - was found floating in the swimming pool by fellow revellers at the O Beach Ibiza in the Balearic party island's popular town of San Antonio in June 2016, having either fallen or having dived into the pool and hit his head.
The 37-year-old, from Middlesbrough, who was part of the Birmingham City side that won promotion to the Premier League in the 2001-02 season before spells at Darlington and York, suffered devastating spinal injuries and now requires round-the-clock care.
The former centre-back launched legal action against Ice Mountain Ibiza SL, which runs the club and counts Gary Lineker's nephew Duane Lineker among its directors, as well as the firm's Spanish insurers.
Lawyers for the club argued at a High Court hearing in January that the matter should be dealt with in Spain, rather than England.
But, in a ruling on Tuesday, Mrs Justice Andrews concluded that the case could proceed in the English courts.
The judge said Ice Mountain was 'deliberately targeting' British tourists with its online promotional activities, and therefore could not escape the legal consequences of consumer protection legislation.
She added: "I am satisfied by Mr Hutchinson that he has a good arguable case that one of the special jurisdictional exceptions to the general rule that a party should be sued in the courts of his own domicile applies to each defendant."
In her ruling, the judge said Mr Hutchinson has 'no recollection' of the circumstances leading to the accident and CCTV footage of the pool area is no longer available.
She said that, in a witness statement, Duane Lineker said he reviewed the CCTV after the incident and that Ice Mountain must therefore have been aware that a 'serious accident' had occurred on its premises.
However, she added: "Despite this, it appears nothing was done to prevent the critical footage from being automatically overwritten, which Mr Lineker states happened after 14 days."
Mr Hutchinson alleges Ice Mountain Ibiza owed him a contractual duty of care and also breached its duty under Spanish consumer protection law.
His solicitor Cheryl Palmer-Hughes of Irwin Mitchell said in a statement: "Joey suffered devastating injuries in the accident which are going to affect him and his family for the rest of his life.
"Through our investigations we believe that there was insufficient safety advice provided to customers at the club, and the company which owns O Beach, and its insurers, have a case to answer.
"That both parties tried to argue that the English courts did not have jurisdiction to hear this and that it needed to be transferred to Spain is disappointing.
"Such actions have only caused to delay the most important issue here which is ensuring Joey can access the specialist care he needs to make the most of life."
Ice Mountain Ibiza and its insurers deny any liability for Mr Hutchinson's accident and are defending the claim.