Joby Murphy's cousin has 'no recall' of drunken night that ended in hypothermia
A Belfast student who ended up with hypothermia after a night out has said he has no recollection of the evening.
Robert Kelly drank a large quantity of alcohol during a drinks promotion at the Box nightclub in the Odyssey. His cousin, Joby Murphy, died in 2012 after a similar night out.
The 19-year-old was taken to hospital after being found unconscious.
"I left the house at 10 o'clock and got down to the Box and bought three rounds in an hour," he said.
"I bought three bottles of wine and 12 tequila shots and, basically ,everything after that is a blank. Then I woke up in the hospital at about eight o'clock in the morning."
The A-level student said he was embarrassed about what happened: "I shouldn't be drinking that much. I mean, I do take responsibility for the amount that I had to drink - it was a stupid combination."
His father, John, said the whole experience devastated the family, especially considering what happened to Robert's cousin, Joby.
"I didn't know what was going through my mind when I saw him in hospital," Mr Kelly said.
"What happened to Joby came back to me and it's all down to cheap drink. It's got to stop."
Robert was thrown out of the nightclub for being too drunk. He collapsed when he hit the air and his father said there should have been a greater duty of care by staff in the nightclub.
"You can't have young people having access to drink that's so cheap and then throw them out if they're too drunk," he said.
"There are chill out rooms for those who've taken drugs. There should be the same for drinkers."
However, Alan Mains who represents Utopian Leisure, which runs the Box nightclub, said it was his staff who phoned the ambulance.
"I think some of this has been taken out of context in terms of the timeline, but I'm satisfied that we did have a duty of care," he said.
Recently, 100 young people were treated for the effects of drink during a DJ Hardwell gig at the Odyssey and fights broke out during a darts event in the arena last week.
Mr Mains said he was satisfied all the appropriate safety measures are in place.