A woman who fell and broke her arm while doing Patrick Swayze style ‘Dirty Dancing’ has lost an action for damages against Dublin nightclub Copper Face Jacks.

Ciara O'Connell (33) of Glenview Park, Tallaght, has been ordered to pay most of the legal costs of the two day High Court hearing, which means her bill is likely to top €100,000.

The court heard she was dancing backwards with a colleague to a Shakira song when the accident happened at the Harcourt Street club on August 4th 2006.

As the pair moved more or less in unison 52 year old Noel Humphries lost his balance and fell back on the sales rep who hit the ground heavily.

Ciara O'Connell was brought by ambulance from Copper Face Jacks to St. James’s Hospital where she was treated for a broken left arm. She has undergone surgery and has been left with significant scarring and some restrictions to her movement.

The 33-year-old sued Copper Face Jacks for negligence. She claimed that Noel Humphries had slipped because the floor was wet. However an engineer called as a witness by her own lawyers tested the pine wood dance floor and concluded that the boards were safe even when wet.

Mr. Justice Sean Ryan accepted the expert evidence. While he found the 33-year-old was unlucky to sustain injuries he concluded the nightclub was not at fault.

However the judge rejected a claim by Copper Face Jacks that Noel Humphries had been engaged in reckless dancing and he has ruled the nightclub will have to foot his legal expenses.