Barman Convicted Of Manslaughter Over Man Who Died After Drinking 56 Shots

A barman in France has avoided jail after serving 56 shots to a man who later died in hospital.

Gilles Crepin received a suspended sentence and a one-year ban from bar work over his part in the man's death, which was the result of his participation in a drinking contest – a running competition in the bar that lauded the customer with the ability to drink the greatest number of shots.

56-year-old Renaud Prudhomme broke the record last October at Starter, a bar in the central French town of Clermont-Ferrand, and was carried home by his daughter and friend that night in an inebriated state. However his condition quickly deteriorated, and sadly he died the next day in hosptial.

"We can't ask every customer who buys alcohol to present their medical certificates"

Defence lawyer Renaud Portejoie

Crepin's defence team argued that the man had an underlying medical condition of which staff were unaware, with is lawyer insisting: "We can't ask every customer who buys alcohol to present their medical certificates."

The team also claimed that dead man's daughter had been urging her father along – however she remained insistent that she was not in the bar at the time.