Our client, David, who lived in Perth, was 20 years old when he purchased a package holiday at a resort in Kuta Beach, Bali.
He was attracted to the resort by the party atmosphere and various drinks promotions. The establishment was exclusively for Australians.
David consumed extreme amounts of alcohol as was encouraged at the resort. However whilst intoxicated he fell from a first-floor balcony onto a rock garden. He broke his neck and was paralysed. He was repatriated from Bali to Perth where he was hospitalised for a long time.
Once instructed Tom Goudkamp travelled to the resort incognito to try and establish what had happened and how the accident could have been prevented. He also took an engineer to conduct a slip test on the balcony from which David fell.
We gathered evidence of the alcohol promotions and drinking prizes, in order to build a case that there was irresponsible service of alcohol. The engineer also reported that the balcony was dangerously slippery, particularly in the tropical humidity. The fact that David had been wearing thongs, as you would expect in a holiday resort, did not help. Furthermore, the balcony wall was only 12 inches high.
The case proceeded to a mediation in Sydney and was settled for a very significant sum.
