Clubber who had skull rebuilt after bouncer clash launches £1million damages claim

Rory Davis (25) of Nidderdale Place, Sunnyside, suffered a brain haemorrhage and had to have his head and face rebuilt with titanium plates when doorman George Fessey, performed a wrestling-style piledriver on him outside a club in Mansfield four-and-a-half years ago.

Lawyers for Mr Davis said he now suffered from headaches, hearing and memory problems, had to take anti-epileptic medicine and had “persisting significant disability” due to the punishment his brain took.

Mr Davis had been refused entry to the After Dark nightclub on a night out in December 2012 and was involved in a “dispute” when Fessey waded in and “slammed Mr Davis into the ground head first”.

Rory Davis

Fessey, who was jailed for two years in 2014 after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm, is now being sued along with three businesses Mr Davis said should be found indirectly liable for the bouncer’s criminal violence that night.

In a writ lodged with London’s High Court, Mr Davis’ barrister, Mr Robert Smith, said that the then 20-year-old had been “seeking to gain access to the premises” and was rowing with another bouncer when “suddenly and without warning, Fessey intervened in the dispute”.

Fessey, of Swadlincote in Derbyshire, “picked Mr Davis up from behind, wrapping his arms around his waist and lifting him off the ground to the maximum height which he was able to do”.

The writ continues: “Thereafter Fessey rotated him around such that his head was to the ground. 

“He then deliberately and forcefully drove and slammed Mr Davis into the ground head first, causing him to be rendered unconscious, suffering catastrophic injury”.

Mr Davis’ injuries caused his brain to swell dramatically and surgeons were obliged to partially deconstruct his skull in order to save his life.

The now 25-year-old, who worked for a minicab business before the attack, is now “at a very significant disadvantage on the labour market” because of the attack, Mr Smith’s writ says.

As well as Fessey, Mr Davis is suing the company that ran After Dark, Wakefield-based Leisure Ninety Nine Limited, plus door security staff providers West Yorkshire Security UK Limited and Loughborough-based Cox Security Services.

The writ states Mr Davis is seeking “damages in excess of £1 million”.

Mr Smith claims there was a “failure to carry out any or any adequate background checks” on Fessey before allowing him to work as a bouncer at the club and that he was inadequately trained.

Fessey, the writ alleges, was “permitted to act in an entirely unreasonable manner, thereby resulting in catastrophic injury to Mr Davis”.

The case was originally brought before the High Court in London but has now been transferred to Manchester High Court for a hearing at a later date.

The defence of Fessey and the three other defendants to the claim were not available from the court and the allegations made in the writ have yet to be tested in evidence before a judge.