French Bartender Charged Over Binge-Drinking Death

A bar owner in France is set to stand trial for the death of a customer who consumed 56 shots in one night, partly in an attempt to break a bar record.

According to The Local, a 57-year-old man named Renaud was in a bar named Le Starter in central France with his daughter and some friends one night in October. They were drinking, and a blackboard in the bar indicated that the previous night, a man had drunk 55 shots. Renaud decided to take the challenge and beat the record, so he started doing shots. He reportedly drank his first 30 shots in just one minute.

Renaud broke the record and was carried home by his daughter and some friends, but he went into cardiac arrest and died at the hospital the following day. Now the owner of Le Starter is facing trial for "manslaughter by willful neglect" for encouraging Renaud to drink unsafe amounts.

Renaud's daughter says the bar owner encouraged her father in his record-breaking attempt, while the bar owner's lawyer says his client actually tried to stop Renaud from drinking so much. The bar owner's lawyer admitted the blackboard behind the bar was not a good idea, but pointed out that nobody forced Renaud to try to break the previous night's record.