Bar owner on trial for 'killing' customer who drank 56 shots
A BAR owner accused of killing a customer by letting him drink 56 “shots” of spirits went on trial for manslaughter yesterday.
Health chiefs in France are worried the youth are copying Britain into binge-drinking
The 57-year-old man was trying to beat a record of 55 shots in one evening at Le Starter, a bar in Clermont-Ferrand, central France.
The landlord allegedly told his customer “only 12 to go” as he neared his target.
After completing the challenge, he was carried home by his daughter and friends – but he had a heart attack and died the next day.
The daughter’s lawyer Antoine Portal said before the trial: “It is not known whether he would still be alive if he had not drunk the last 12 shots. But it was a case of inciting someone to consume.”
The bar owner’s lawyer Renaud Portejoie admitted that a “leader board” alerting customers to the existing record for shots was “a mistake”. But he added: “No one forced him to take on the challenge. Customers are responsible for themselves.”
Health chiefs in France have warned about an increase in binge drinking – and claim young people there are copying British culture.