A 35-year-old Kildare man who got stuck in the mud at the Oxegen music festival in July 2007 has lost his High Court case against the promoters for injuries he suffered.
Mark Ponisi, of Roselawn, Tipper Road in Co Kildare, was watching the Kings of Leon perform when his feet became stuck in muddy ground.
He claimed that during a surge of the crowd he was knocked to the ground, kicked and trampled on and sustained a broken ankle.
He sued promoters MCD for negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract.
It was claimed that MCD failed to take any or reasonable care to see he would be safe while attending the outdoor music festival and allegedly exposed him to a surface area that was dangerous and unsafe.
MCD Productions denied the claims and claimed Mr Ponisi failed to taken adequate caution for his own safety.
In a judgment delivered this morning, Ms Justice Mary Irvine dismissed the claim and said it was regrettable that he had fractured his ankle.
However, she said promoters MCD were not negligent and reasonable care had been taken to ensure the venue was safe.
She accepted his boots may have got stuck in the mud but said there was no evidence of a crowd surge.
She also found the concert was adequately staffed and did not accept the conditions were "disgraceful" as had been alleged.
The judge said it was cases "such as this one which put at risk the holding of the type of large outdoor events which give so much pleasure to so many people.
"Organisers of these events can only do what is reasonable in order to provide for the safety of those who attend.
"It is simply not possible to expect ... to provide a site that will remain mud-free for 80,000 people over a weekend against a backdrop of six weeks of bad weather.
"I am satisfied that the Oxegen Festival for 2007 was planned and managed in a manner which was reasonable in all of the circumstances for the purposes of seeking to protect the safety of festival goers from injuries that might occur due to poor underfoot conditions.
"I do not believe that the defendants can be considered to have been negligent merely because there may have been some are in Arena 1 at 7pm on 7 July 2007 which had a few inches of mud present and with which patrons should in all normal circumstances be expected to cope satisfactorily."
In his evidence to the High Court last week, Mr Ponisi said he was standing looking at the stage when someone behind him knocked him over.
His friend, Steven Keane, who was with him at the time said the ground was "very mucky and disgraceful".
Mr Keane said he kept sinking into the mud no matter where he put his feet.
He added: "Next thing we knew we were on the ground." Mr Ponisi was screaming that his ankle was broken.
Mr Ponisi was admitted to hospital and later had surgery on his broken ankle and had a plate fitted.
In his statement of claim, he said the injury prevented him from playing sport and the joint was disfigured due to the plate.
An engineer who gave evidence for the plaintiff said the month of June 2007 had been very wet and it was inevitable a heavy traffic area of the festival would turn to mud.
He said the area should have been covered in a plastic-type tile.
The engineer said there was no reason they could not be used apart from expenditure and said the ground was untreated and "turned into a quagmire".
He agreed that rubber matting had been placed 100m from the stage.
However, event safety engineer for MCD Michael Slattery said he had walked the Punchestown venue on the day in question and his view it was safe to open the doors.
He said drainage was quite good.
Tony Killeen, who was part of the event control team, said the area had been assessed on the days of the festival and extra supplies of wood chip, straw and gravel had been placed around the site for use when needed.
Mr Killeen said he had worked on the festival since it started and knew the layout of the site and knew the areas of high traffic.
He said a plastic covering would not have been suitable in the sloped area where the plaintiff was standing.
