A SEVEN-TIMES champion amateur boxer who was knocked out on a Dublin street when a hoarding fell on his head has been awarded £17,500 damages and costs for personal injuries.
Mr Jim Rock, who now fights professionally as "The Pink Panther" out of Barney Eastwood's gym in Belfast, told Judge Esmonde Smyth in the Circuit Civil Court that the accident delayed for more than three years his joining the professional ranks.
Because of a neck and, particularly, a lower back injury, he had been out of training for 14 months following the accident in January, 1992. Afterwards, when he had sought to renew his professional application, Mr Eastwood had advised him to return to the amateur ranks for more than a year to regain his co-ordination and speed.
Mr Rock told his counsel, Mr Alex White, that on January 16th, 1992, he had been to the Brazen Head for a few drinks with friends. Afterwards, as they walked along Usher's Quay, a hoarding surrounding a new development collapsed on top of them.
"I remember regaining consciousness and a woman was holding my hand. The hoarding had fallen over the street and caused a traffic jam. An ambulance took me to hospital," Mr Rock said.
He told Judge Smyth that a shoulder injury had cleared up quite quickly, but a lower back injury had persisted and he could not train. He had signed with Barney Eastwood to turn professional in August, 1992, and was to have his first professional fight in April, 1993. This had had to be deferred, and he had not fought professionally until November of blast year.
Mr Finbarr Fox, counsel for the defendants, Ballymore Homes Ltd, of Ballymoreustace, Co Kildare, said that liability was conceded and it was for the court to assess the amount of damages.
Mr Rock, formerly of Roselawn, Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, but now living in the Cliftonville Road area of Belfast, told Mr Fox that he had been involved in a road traffic accident in April, 1993, and in a slip and fall in a butcher's shop in December of the same year. He had been shot in both legs while working as a bouncer on December 26th, 1993.
Mr Rock agreed with Mr Fox that his injuries from all three incidents would have contributed to his lack of training during the 14-month period he was out of the gym.
Judge Smyth appealed to builders and scaffolders to take the utmost care in securing hoardings and scaffolding. "Some of these constructions have been shown not to be properly secured and the plaintiff has been very fortunate he did not suffer an injury which might have ended his career," he said.
Judge Smyth said that the accident had undoubtedly affected Mr Rock's fitness level and he had undoubtedly lost money by having to return to the amateur ranks for a period.
He said that he found him an honest plaintiff and a decent young man who had not exaggerated his case. He was not making any complaint about his back injury now and his solicitors, Bowler Geraghty & Co, had openly divulged information about the other accidents and the shooting incident prior to the hearing.