Brit Tourist Wins Compensation After Horrific Nightclub Accident In Mallorca 

A Scottish holidaymaker will be granted in excess of £200,000 after a catastrophic injury at a nightclub in Mallorca, which left him blind in both eyes.

Dillon Connery, aged 18 at the time, suffered a direct hit to the face by a ‘paint bag’ while participating in a UV paint event at the Carwash Club in Magaluf, during his holiday in July 2018, writes The Daily Mail.

At the age of 18, Connery’s eyes were horrifically damaged by flying paint, an incident his mother described as having his eyes ‘obliterated and destroyed’. Following the event, numerous surgeries were unable to restore the sight of the young man from Paisley, Scotland. A court in Mallorca has now declared that adequate safety precautions were not observed and ordered the nightclub to pay €150,000 (£130,000) in compensation.

In addition to the court’s decision, the other half of the victim’s entitled sum was previously disbursed by the club’s insurer. Though Connery’s original claim for damages was €1,000,000 (£864,675), he was unable to demonstrate how the incident had changed his life.

The alarming incident, occurring on July 11, 2018, involved a stage-mounted paint gun that misfired directly into Connery’s face. His mother, Ashleigh Connery, stated: ‘His friends went to the bar and Dylan was by himself for five minutes. His eyes have been shattered.’ Upon their return, his friends assumed he had been assaulted due to his immense pain.

The young man, who was in training with a cybersecurity firm, was immediately taken to Son Espases Hospital in Palma. His mother joined him, and the family subsequently travelled back to Scotland, where he underwent treatment at Gartnavel Royal Hospital. ‘The surgeon was very upset and had never seen anything like this before.’

Despite a speedy police investigation into the incident, it took five years for the nightclub to be directed to pay Connery the damages. Initially, he was only granted €2,600 (£2,248), as judges were unable to substantiate that he was genuinely blind. Later, a district court uncovered convincing evidence from the hospital in Palma and determined that he had indeed lost his sight due to the paint gun mishap.