Mark Pollock - pictured leaving the court - had not taken court action against his friends "lightly", his barrister said
A blind adventurer from County Down who was left paralysed after a fall from a second-floor window while staying with friends is suing them for damages.
Mark Pollock suffered a serious spinal injury, broken bones and internal injuries in a 25-foot fall from a house in Henley in Oxfordshire in July 2010.
The 39-year-old, originally from Holywood, became the first blind person to trek to the South Pole in 2009.
But the accident left him confined to a wheelchair and dependent on care.
A "freak combination of circumstances" led to Mr Pollock falling from the window of the house belonging to Enda and Madeline Cahill, the High Court in London has heard.
Earlier in the case, he told the court he was probably "on his way to the bathroom and was disorientated and tripped out the window".
He is blaming Mr and Mrs Cahill, saying the window should not have been left open.
Balance
Mr Pollock lost his sight in 1998 at the age of 22 but went on to win bronze and silver medals for rowing at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
He had also taken part in extreme marathons and completed the 1,400-mile Round Ireland Yacht Race 10 days before the accident.
Mr Pollock became the first blind person to trek to the South Pole in 2009
Although it was uncertain who opened the window, Mr Pollock's barrister had said that "on the balance of probability" it was one of the Cahills.
But the Cahills, of Woodview, Remenham Lane in Henley, deny the accident was their fault in any way.
Mr Pollock had been offered a bed in the ground-floor conservatory but opted to share a second floor room with another guest.
Mrs Cahill had said: "I was constantly going through in my mind if there was anything I could have done to prevent the accident."
Martin Murphy, who shared the bedroom with Mr Pollock, had told the court: "We were two men sharing a room in hot weather, so I am sure we would have opened the window."
Snared
A barrister for the Cahills asked the judge to bring a "large injection of common sense" to bear and dismiss Mr Pollock's claim.
An "extensive use of hindsight" was required to reach the conclusion that Cahills were to blame and the accident should have been prevented.
Mr Pollock's barrister told the court an "open window at that height, without warning, constituted a trap".
Mr Pollock suffered a serious spinal injury in the fall from a second-floor window
"He was snared by that trap and he sustained his injuries," he said.
"This is a very simple case. It is common ground that the defendants owed Mr Pollock a duty of care."
"Should a blind man have been left in a room with the windows of the property open when he had not been walked through the room, when he had not been given any warning?" he asked.
Mr Pollock had not taken court action against his friends "lightly", his barrister said.
As the case closed, the court heard that Mr Pollock was limiting his claim to the amount that could be recovered under the Cahills' household insurance.
He has done so with the intention of ensuring the couple do not have to pay out themselves, the court heard.
The judge has reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
