Compensation after comic attacked

An Irish bar owner has been ordered to pay £2,300 compensation after a comedian was attacked by a heckler.

Paul Malone was punched in the eye outside the Park View Bar in County Cork by a man he'd mocked during his performance. The wound needed nine stiches.

Bar owner Michael Hourigan claimed he was not liable as the incident happened long after they left his pub.

But Cork Circuit Court ruled the publican was responsible for the actions of his customers, and awarded the stand-up ¤3,500, showbiz newspaper The Stage reports.

Malone, from Dublin, said he used put-downs against the heckler after he persistently interrupted his act.

"I made a few comments in an attempt to quieten him," he said.

"I said, 'why don't you stand by the wall, that's plastered as well' and 'his brain is too tense - two-tenths the normal side."

The audience applauded, but the heckler was not amused and punched Malone as he got into his car after the show. He was dealt with at an earlier court hearing.

Malone says this wasn't the first time he has landed in trouble - at another gig a member of the audience tried to punch him for singing The Fields Of Athenry backwards.

Published: 20 Feb 2004