A RETIRED vet who broke his neck when he fell downstairs after drinking vodka and orange had his condition made worse by a paramedic's ''manhandling'', a judge has ruled.

Tetraplegic Richard Griffiths, of Shorwell on the Isle of Wight, had made a remarkably good recovery which in many respects had brought him to the cusp of useful functionality, said Mr Justice Turner at London's High Court today.

But his recovery would have been even better but for the actions of a member of the ambulance crew, who came to his aid in July 2010.

Deciding an issue in Mr Griffiths's damages action against the Secretary of State for Health, who is legally responsible for the crew, the judge said that the paramedic made a serious error in assuming - as had Mr Griffiths's wife Carol - that he had suffered a stroke and acting accordingly.

''There is no dispute that his assessment was negligent. The upshot was that no steps were taken to immobilise Mr Griffiths' neck.

''He was lifted into a sitting position, carried into the lounge and sat on a sofa. Thereafter, he was taken to the ambulance in a carry chair.

''It was only after he arrived at hospital that the correct diagnosis was made.''

He said that Mr Griffiths, now 65, had alcohol problems at the time and every so often would go on binges which could last for days.

On the morning of his accident, he was carrying out some DIY, which involved respraying decorative tools, and filled in the time while waiting for the paint to dry by working on his computer upstairs and drinking vodka and orange.

Mrs Griffiths, an alcohol specialist nurse, was at the dentist when, shortly after noon, her husband came downstairs, empty tumbler in hand, lost his footing and fell.

The consequences were disastrous as Mr Griffiths broke his neck and ended up sprawled out at the foot of the stairs.

The judge added that when Mrs Griffiths arrived home, she seriously underestimated the seriousness of her husband's condition and Mr Griffiths, who was by this time conscious, protested that he would get up unaided in due course.

''For her part, Mrs Griffiths was annoyed that he had been drinking again. She did what she had done on previous occasions when she found him incapacitated. She took a photograph of him.

''Her intention was to confront him with the photograph later and thereby administer a dose of therapeutic discomfiture.''

When she began to suspect that her husband's condition was potentially serious, she examined him and, thinking mistakenly that he might have had a stroke, rang for an ambulance.

By the time it arrived, said the judge, Mr Griffiths had been lying at the foot of the stairs for more than two hours.

Ruling that the manhandling caused additional damage to Mr Griffiths's spinal cord, the judge said that even if a modestly higher proportion of neurons had returned to full function, this would have been likely to have brought significant benefits.

''The manhandling has deprived him of those benefits.''

The amount of damages to be paid to Mr Griffiths will now be assessed at a later stage if not agreed.