Pretoria - A night out clubbing, which resulted in a drunken brawl, will cost two brothers dearly.
The owner of a nightclub in Sinoville, north of Pretoria, won his damages claim against two patrons who assaulted him to such an extent during a pub brawl, that he lost consciousness.
Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi ordered that brothers Christopher and Louis Coetzee were liable to pay Lance Mills the damages which he could prove that he had suffered.
Mills was the owner of Die Brouery club on the corner of Marija and Zambezi Avenues when the fight broke out on the evening of August 4, 2012.
He also instituted the damages claim against a third patron, Willem Pelser, but the latter has meanwhile disappeared.
The brothers denied that they had assaulted Mills and caused a fight and they mainly blamed the now missing Pelser.
They were, however, earlier convicted in the Pretoria North Regional Court of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
The judge said it is not in dispute that Mills was assaulted and seriously injured that night. The only matter in dispute during these civil proceedings was who the culprits were.
Mills testified that on the night of the incident he and his wife were standing outside the club to welcome customers and to greet those who left.
At about one in the morning they saw a group of people approaching the entrance. One of them had a glass in his hand. The manager of the club, who also acted as bouncer, Michael Thomas, told Louis Coetzee that it was against the club’s rules to enter the premises with a full glass. The latter then emptied the contents and entered the club.
Sometime later a security guard, Paulus Khumalo, blew his whistle to inform Mills that Thomas was being assaulted by three people. Mills said he saw Christopher standing at a door and holding the frame, while he kicked Thomas. His brother Louis meanwhile hit Thomas with his fists and he also kicked him.
Mills said he grabbed Christopher by the shoulder and the latter hit him on the side of his face. He lost his balance and fell. According to him Louis then continued to beat him until he lost consciousness When he woke up, the two had already left.
The two brothers denied that they attacked Mills and said Pelser later told them that he was the one who attacked Mills. They said Pelser was concerned that he “might have killed Mills” and said he thought that he should not have jumped on him the way he did.
The brothers claimed another fight broke out during a dance competition on the dance floor and that Thomas attacked Christopher there. The latter said as he was drunk at the time, he fell. He and his brother left soon afterwards, and they have no idea who had attacked Mills, Christopher said.
Thomas meanwhile testified that he too, was assaulted as he tried to break-up a fight in the club. He claimed that Louis swore at him and he felt punches on his body. He said the brothers pulled his shirt over his head so that he could not see who else was assaulting him.
The brothers meanwhile called witnesses to testify that Pelser was the one who had assaulted Mills.
The judge said there were two mutually destructive versions before the court, but she found that the brothers, particularly Louis, was the one who had assaulted Mills. She said they were not impressive witnesses.
“Especially their evidence that Pelser admitted to assaulting the plaintiff appears to be a well rehearsed fabrication,” she said.