the architect of his own misfortune, according to Puisne Judge, the Hon. Mr.

Justice Ground.

Mr. Dennis Wilfred Morris, 49, of Devonshire, died after falling from the balcony of the National Sports Club, on June 4, 1987.

His widow, Mrs. Carol Claudette Morris claimed damages from the club accusing them of negligence.

She said that Nationals had failed to take sufficient steps to stop such an accident by building a fence on the balcony wall or otherwise preventing patrons sitting on the wall.

Mr. Justice Ground found in favour of the club and later their lawyer Mr.

Trevor Moniz said the decision would help other sporting clubs in Bermuda should similar accidents occur.

Insurance salesman Mr. Morris had been to Rum Runners and Casey's Lounge during the afternoon. Witnesses said he had consumed around eight Miller Lite beers.

Later that day he went to Nationals to watch his son Brian playing cricket.

Mr. Justice Ground said: "The son saw his father come out onto the patio outside the bar and sit astride the wall.

"He says that after he had addressed the second ball, his father shouted something to him, and he was looking at his father to see what he was shouting. He saw him lose his balance and fall. The son could not really tell why he lost his balance.'' Another eye witness said that Mr. Morris dropped a beer bottle and then fell while he was trying to make a grab for it. But the Judge dismissed the evidence as unsatisfactory.

Mr. Justice Ground also said that he felt that the alcohol Mr. Morris had consumed would not have made him drunk.

He said: "The wall itself was not inherently unsafe, as a wall. It was probably adequate for the normal purpose of such a parapet, namely to stop people from pitching over the edge unawares.

"It only became a danger when it was used as a seat. The danger from using it as such should have been obvious to the plaintiff.'' Mr. Morris had also been a member of the committee at Nationals and knew the ground from a long association.

The Judge said that the club would have known the danger and they could have erected a railing at no great expense. He said that the fact that wall was regularly used as a seat troubled him.

"However, I do not think that the evidence can be taken so far as to say that the club provided this wall as a seat for spectators,'' he added.

"Their failure was in stopping people from sitting on this wall. If the club was managing a kindergarten there would be no question but that they were liable.

"This was not a kindergarten. It was a sports club. The club were entitled to trust their adult membership to conduct themselves in the face of obvious danger in a reasonable manner.

"If the deceased had sustained a lesser injury, and himself been the plaintiff in an action, then I think that the man in the street would have no difficulty in thinking of him as the author of his own misfortune.

"The fact that the outcome was so tragically severe does not detract from the essence of that.'' He added that he felt there was no breach of duty and found for the Nationals and awarded costs to the club.

Later Mr. Moniz said that he had no idea whether the club would erect a railing as a result of the accident, but he said he would pass the decision on to the committee.