I felt under threat at all times, cricketer Ben Stokes tells his affray trial
ENGLAND cricketer Ben Stokes felt “under threat” at all times when he knocked two men unconscious during a fight near a nightclub, a court heard.
The all-rounder is accused of punching Ryan Hale (27) and his friend Ryan Ali (28) during a brawl in the Clifton Triangle area of Bristol on September 25 last year.
Stokes (27), who plays for Durham, is standing trial at Bristol Crown Court jointly accused of affray alongside Ali.
Hale was acquitted of the same charge by the jury of six men and six women on the direction of the judge yesterday.
The cricketer, dressed in a blue suit, white shirt and blue tie, swore on the Bible before starting his evidence in courtroom one.
He denied claims he mocked two gay men, Kai Barry and William O’Connor, outside the Mbargo nightclub and flicked a cigarette butt at them.
Instead, he insisted he had stepped in to protect Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor after hearing Mr Hale and Ali — who had a glass bottle — shout homophobic abuse at them.
Stokes said he told the pair: “You shouldn’t be taking the p*** because they are gay.
“I was told by Mr Ali along the lines of: ‘Shut the f*** up or I’ll bottle you’.”
He said he continued telling Ali and Mr Hale to stop saying what they had been to the two gay men.
The alleged fracas began when Ali held the neck of the upturned bottle in his hand and began “waving it around”.
“It was just lots of shouting and Mr Ali was running towards Alex Hales with a bottle above his head like he was going to hit him,” Stokes said.
“I remember getting between Alex and Mr Ali and then he turned around and he, Mr Ali, swung at one of the gay couple.
“As soon as I see Mr Ali swing the bottle and physically hit them, that’s when I took the decision to get involved.
“I was trying to stop Mr Ali
Acquitted: Ryan Hale doing damage to anybody with a glass bottle.”
Stokes said he took a swing at Ali, before the men tussled and fell to the floor. Mr Hale then came up behind him and grabbed him.
The cricketer said he got back to his feet and saw Mr Hale standing in front of him.
When asked if he had become “enraged” at any point during the incident, Stokes replied that it was a “difficult question to answer”.
Stokes told the jury he had come to Bristol to play a one-day international against the West Indies.
He and other England players took taxis into the city centre and went to the Mbargo nightclub.
Stokes left and returned later, but was refused entry by door supervisor Andrew Cunningham as it was after 2am.
He described Mr Cunningham as taking against the cricketers when they offered him around £60 or £70 to get them into the club, which he turned down.
“I said to him: ‘Come on mate, I’ve got s*** tattoos as well, let us back in’,” he told the court. “I am constantly getting told by teammates and by who I play with that I have got s*** tattoos.”
Stokes denied mimicking Mr Barry or Mr O’Connor, or mocking them, and insisted the only comments between them were about clothing.
“I get told by quite a lot of my team-mates that I dress the worst in the team,” Stokes said.
Stokes, of Castle Eden, Durham, and Ali, of Forest Road, Bristol, each deny a charge of affray.
The trial continues.