A woman lost a civil case against Ronnie Scott’s jazz club after a judge ruled her treacherous fall down two flights of stairs occurred because she was drunk, obese and careless. 
 
 Eren Hussein was seeking thousands in damages from the world famous club after breaking her wrist and elbow after a party at the venue in 2012. 
 
 “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.” 
 
 However Judge Heather Baucher QC threw out her civil claim and instead accused her of not taking due care, referencing her 18-stone frame and platform heels. 
 
 “Mrs Hussein, at 115kg, must have taken up much of the width of the stairway. But for some inexplicable reason, she did not use the handrail,” Judge Baucher said. 
 
 “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. 
 
 The 53-year-old company director had been at a birthday party with her pregnant daughter-in-law when the incident occurred in March 2012. 
 
 The court heard how Mrs Hussein, who has since lost five stones, walked down the left side of the stairs, despite the banister being on the right. 
 
 However Judge Baucher said that she could still have used the rail on the right, given her size at the time. 
 
 Mrs Hussein denied she had been drunk, claiming she drank no more than a glass and a half of champagne and a glass of red wine. 
 
 However, Ronnie Scott’s barrister Catherine Foster said medical records from her arrival at hospital described her as “obviously drunk” and “intoxicated”. 
 
 Judge Baucher also visited the scene of the fall and found nothing wrong with lighting, and ruled Ronnie Scott’s was not to blame for the accident. 
 
 She said: “In ordinary circumstances, she, like countless others, would have descended the staircase and gone home. 
 
 “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.” ||||| 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.
– A judge in Britain has denied a woman's claim that dim lighting in a jazz club was to blame for injuries she suffered in a fall, with her unusually frank ruling making headlines because of its references to the woman's "inebriated, obese state." Judge Heather Baucher ruled last week that 254-pound Eren Hussein was responsible for her own injuries when she tumbled down stairs at a popular London jazz spot "on three-inch platforms," the Telegraph reports. Hussein, 53, filed a civil lawsuit demanding thousands of dollars in damages from Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club after she broke her wrist and elbow there in March 2012 during a night out. Hussein testified that she missed a step outside an upstairs lounge and fell down two flights of stairs. "It was dark, it was dim and I didn't see my step as I was going down," she said. But the judge faulted her for not holding the banister, noting that Hussein "must have taken up much of the width of the stairway." Hospital records described Hussein, who has since lost 70 pounds, as "obviously drunk," but she insisted she only had 2.5 glasses of wine and champagne. The judge noted she may have been affected by painkillers she was taking. "On that evening, whether due to one or more of the factors—painkillers, weight, shoes, drink—she simply missed her footing," the judge said, per the Independent.