Login
Brawl on the dance floor
A Clifford Chance associate and a champion rower walked into a bar ... and ended up in court.
Leanne Mezrani
High-flying commercial lawyer Edward Dyson (28) was allegedly punched four times by professional rower Sean Corrigall (23) at a London nightspot frequented by the likes of Prince Harry and model Kate Moss, the UK Telegraph reported.
Dyson is claiming that there was a verbal altercation as he tried to pass Corrigall and his three friends to get to the toilet, and that later someone threw a drink on his back.
“They laughed at me, it was childish, nonsensical,” Dyson said. “They said something about my mother and I said: ‘Don't be so childish’ and laughed at them.”
Folklaw thinks Dyson was exceptionally restrained in this scenario – not at all like the Mike Tyson-esque aggressor in the rower’s version of events.
According to Corrigall, the lawyer tried to bite his nose. “It was like a dog snapping, you could hear his teeth,” he told the court.
It is now up to Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court to decide whether a threatening bite, spilt drink or expletives about someone’s mother caused the scuffle.
Depending on the outcome, Dyson could seek damages for allegedly suffering a whiplash-type injury. The lawyer has claimed the fight has worsened pre-existing tinnitus – a ringing in the ears he has endured since being punched in a separate club incident eight years ago, the Telegraph revealed.
Corrigall’s lawyer, however, suggested to the court that Dyson is exaggerating the incident so he can cash in with a personal injury claim.
Folklaw is left pondering who the UK public will sympathise with: an Olympic hopeful who has won four gold medals at the last two Scottish Indoor Rowing championships, or a lawyer.
