Lie-ins could kill you
SLEEPING longer than the recommended seven or eight hours a night has been linked with a higher risk of premature death, according to new research.
Researchers looked at data from 74 studies involving more than three million people and found those who slept for 10 hours were 30% more likely to die prematurely than those who slept for eight.
Staying in bed for more than 10 hours was linked to a 56% increased risk of death from stroke and a 49% increased risk of fatal cardiovascular disease. ENGLAND cricketer Ben Stokes was abusive to a doorman before mocking two gay men leaving a nightclub, a court has heard.
The 27-year-old all-rounder is accused of affray in the Clifton triangle area of Bristol during the early hours of September 25 last year.
Doorman Andrew Cunningham, 37, told Bristol Crown Court that Stokes and teammate Alex Hales attempted to gain entry to the Mbargo nightclub after it closed at 2am.
They had been in there earlier with other members of the England cricket team, who had played the West Indies in a one-day international in Bristol the previous day.
Mr Cunningham, who has four gold front teeth and is heavily tattooed, said Stokes began to abuse him after he refused to allow them inside.
“The ginger one offered me £60 and asked me if that would get them in,” he told the jury of six men and six women.
“He had a conversation with his friend and he said ‘£300, get us in’ and I still told them no. I told them I would not have a job to go back to in the morning. He got a bit verbally abusive. He mentioned my gold teeth and I replied, ‘Thank you very much.’
“I said they could call me what they liked – it still wouldn’t change the fact they weren’t getting in. They could swear, shout – I wouldn’t rise to it.
“He just looked at me and told me my tattoos were s*** and to look at my job, which he obviously wasn’t happy about for keeping him out.”
When asked what sort of tone Stokes was addressing him in, Mr Cunningham replied: “Quite a spiteful tone, quite an angry tone.”
Mr Cunningham said two gay men he knew, William O’Connor and Kai Barry, then emerged from the nightclub and began talking to each other.
He described Mr O’Connor and Mr Barry as “extravagant” and said they acted in a “flamboyant” manner.
“The ginger guy picked up on this and started to take the mick out of them,” he told the jury.
Mr Cunningham said two men – Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, who are standing trial accused of affray with Stokes – left Mbargo and walked off with Mr O’Connor and Mr Barry.
Prosecutors allege that trouble flared after Stokes and Mr Hales caught up with Ali, Hale, Mr O’Connor and Mr Barry on a nearby street.
The cricketer is accused of knocking both Hale and Ali out during the fracas.
Ali allegedly threatened Mr Hales with a bottle, with Hale said to have retrieved a metal pole from a street sign and brought it to the scene.
Stokes claims he was acting in selfdefence and took action after Ali and Hale were homophobic towards Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor.
Stokes, of Stockton Road, Castle Eden, Durham; Ali, of Forest Road, Bristol; and Hale, of Burghill Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, each deny a joint charge of affray.