BGT star’s father is punched in the face after throwing boys out of teen house party
THE father of a Britain’s Got Talent contestant was punched in the face after dashing home to confront teenagers he believed had gatecrashed a party.
James Shaw was out with his wife Janine, 47, when he used a mobile phone app to monitor a security camera at their £500,000 detached home.
The 50-year-old – whose eldest daughter, 21-year-old singer-songwriter Ella Shaw, was in the talent show’s semifinals in 2015 – rushed back after spotting four young men at the party, which was supposed to be girls-only.
He arrived to find 18-year-old Cameron Hull kissing one of his other daughters.
Hull, a 6ft part-time labourer, was given his marching orders along with his friends. But he then demanded to be let back in to retrieve his new £200 Jack Wolfskin jacket.
As Mr Shaw tried to stop him, there was a scuffle in the doorway and the engineering company director was punched in the face, a court heard. The father-of-three is believed to have suffered a broken nose and black eye.
Hull, who lives in Blackburn, six miles from the Shaws’ home in Langho, Lancashire, admitted assaulting Mr Shaw during the fracas in March.
He was given an eight-month conditional discharge by Blackburn magistrates and ordered to pay £ 100 compensation.
Prosecuting, Mike Church-Taylor told magistrates Mr Shaw had been keeping an eye on his home via the app.
‘He saw four young men in the house and decided to go home,’ the lawyer said. ‘The four males ran from the house but the defendant then tried to get back in. Mr Shaw blocked his way and was punched in the face for his trouble.’ Damian Pickup, defending, said his client had never been in trouble with police before and had been invited to the party. ‘He was kissing the girl when her parents returned home unexpectedly,’ Mr Pickup said. ‘It is clear she had been told she could have a small party but it appears they didn’t expect males to be there.
‘My client says the girl’s parents went mad and much of their anger was directed towards him because he had been kissing their daughter.’ Mr Shaw yelled at the teenager before pushing him out of the house, the court heard. ‘[Hull] realised he had left his jacket in the house and returned to get it,’ said Mr Pickup. ‘He was met with further aggression and accepts he punched the aggrieved party in the face.’
Last night Hull claimed: ‘ We got invited to a party that night by the hostess’s friend. I did not know the name of the girl I was kissing. I was in the living room with the guy’s daughter when he just walked in.
‘My mum had just bought me a new jacket the day before and he refused to give it to me.’ He added: ‘We did not know it was Ella Shaw’s family place.’