LAWYER William Rolt and his client Vincent O'Halloran are not the only people who will wait with bated breath for a decision on whether addiction to alcohol can be classed as a disability within the terms of the 1995 Disability Act.

If the ruling goes in Mr O'Halloran's favour he will almost certainly escape eviction from his flat in Park North.

And his neighbours will probably have to go on enduring the noise and disruption he has regularly inflicted on them when drunk.

Mr O'Halloran cannot control his consumption of alcohol and he deserves sympathy.

But can uncontrollable drinking be deemed as a valid excuse for uncontrolled behaviour?

If alcoholism is deemed a disability, why should this not also extend to people who are hooked on drugs?

We wonder whether this was ever the intention of those who drafted the Discrimination Act and sought to improve the quality of vulnerable people's lives.