French Bartender Convicted In Customer's Drinking Death

Earlier this month, a man drinking shots at a bar in France died after taking on an unofficial challenge to break the bar's standing shot-drinking record. Yesterday, a French judge convicted the bar's owner for manslaughter in the customer's binge-drinking death.

According to The Local, bar owner Gilles Crepin has been convicted of manslaughter in the alcohol poisoning death of 56-year-old Renaud Prudhomme. Crepin has reportedly been handed a suspended sentence of four months, and has been banned from working in a bar for a year. Crepin, who is the owner of Le Starter, the bar where Prudhomme died, says he will be appealing the ruling.

On the night of his death, Prudhomme reportedly saw a sign at the bar announcing that someone had previously consumed 55 shots of alcohol in one evening. Prudhomme reportedly decided to beat that, and consumed 56 shots by the end of the night. He was taken home by his daughter, but later died in the hospital of cardiac arrest.  

Crepin admitted that announcing the shot record on the bar was a mistake, but said he did not encourage Prudhomme to try to break the record or to do 56 shots in one night. Crepin's lawyer maintains Prudhomme had existing medical problems, and that Prudhomme's daughter was the one encouraging him in his shot-drinking. Prudhomme's daughter's lawyer says she was not even in the bar at the time, and pointed out that it is illegal in France to serve someone who is already excessively inebriated.

"We want to remind some professionals that it is illegal to serve alcohol to clients that are in an advanced state of inebriation," he said.