London tarot card reader sues Vue for £12.7m over 'catapult' cinema seat

A tarot card reader and actor who claims he was "catapulted" from a defective cinema seat in north London is suing Vue Entertainment for £12.7 million.

Marcus Hunefalk-Franzen, 60, alleges that he suffered severe "whiplash" when a chair collapsed beneath him during a visit to Islington’s Vue Cinema more than a decade ago.

He claims the incident has left him suffering from chronic neck and back pain, alongside an impaired sense of taste, smell, and hearing.

The case, which has still not reached trial 11 years after the initial incident, has seen the claimant's initial £50,000 valuation of the injury has snowballed into a multi-million-pound legal battle, The Telegraph reports.

Vue Entertainment has admitted liability for the accident itself but vehemently disputes the multi-million-pound valuation of the damages.

Mr Hunefalk-Franzen, who resides in Camden, north London, was conducting professional tarot readings at Greenwich Market at the time of the September 2015 accident.

Court documents filed on his behalf describe a dramatic scene inside the auditorium: "The claimant sat on a chair to view a film within the auditorium. As he alighted, the chair collapsed in on itself and catapulted the claimant forward into the chair in front."

It was later discovered that the vital bolts anchoring the seat to the cinema floor were entirely missing.

While Vue's legal team initially argued the claim was worth between £8,000 and £12,500, the self-represented psychic insists the long-term disruptions to his career justify the £12.7m figure.

He alleges that the chronic pain derailed highly lucrative, "unique" business ventures he had hatched, which included an innovative acting school and a bespoke "online psychic platform."

He claims this digital concept would have generated £1.5m by now, allowing him to earn £1m a year and eventually sell the enterprise for £3 million upon his retirement.

However, the cinema chain's defence highlights that Mr Hunefalk-Franzen has a significant pre-existing medical history of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and neck pain dating back to 2008.

At a recent pre-trial hearing, Central London County Court judge Alan Saggarson noted the claimant faces a "constellation of difficulties" regarding concentration and cognitive ability, and refused permission to rely on a revised pain expert report after deadlines were missed.

The case is not scheduled to go to trial until the end of 2027.