Irishman claims punch in backside ruined his life

An Irishman who claimed his life was ruined from injuries sustained after a bread delivery man allegedly punched him in the backside has lost his High Court action for damages.

The former retail security officer John Rice, 49, from Dublin, sued bread delivery man Alan Muddiman, from Co Kildare, over the alleged battery which he claimed occurred as Muddiman made a delivery to a Tesco store at Roselawn Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin in July 2009.

Rice, who represented himself in court, claimed that Muddiman assaulted him as he was checking in the produce being delivered. He said he suffered severe personal injuries after he was allegedly punched in the buttocks and right hip with a closed fist. He also claimed there had been a previous similar type encounter with Muddiman.

Rice said that before this he had resurfacing surgery on his hips and after the alleged attack, suffered pain to the lower back, right buttock and numbness in his legs the Irish Times reports.

Muddiman has denied the claims.

Justice Kevin Cross dismissed the case, saying there was CCTV footage of the incident which, while from a distance, did not support the view a vicious blow with a clenched fist had been delivered.

Rice had claimed because of the alleged previous incident he had withdrawn his implied consent “to that sort of thing.” He claimed because something similar had happened before, he’d told Muddiman not to do it because he had bad hips.

The judge said that he believed before this the men’s relationship was one of “banter, high fives, and back slapping” and there was a “tactile element.”

According to the Irish Times, Justice Cross said he believed the probable result of the encounter was encapsulated in a medical report which said Rice suffered post traumatic adjustment disorder and depression afterwards.

“No doubt Mr Rice believed all his physical and psychological symptoms relate to the incident and what I have decided will be deeply disappointing to Mr Rice who probably will believe to his grave that an injustice has occurred,” the judge added.

He said Rice should “put matters behind him.”