Caught on CCTV, England cricket star mocking gay couple outside nightclub
BEN Stokes bullied two gay revellers, throwing a cigarette at one and making mocking gestures at them, after swearing at a nightclub bouncer, a court heard yesterday.
Doorman Andrew Cunningham, 37, refused to allow the England cricketer back into the Mbargo club in Bristol despite the player offering him £300 cash, a jury was told.
Stokes and team-mate Alex Hales were together after celebrating with the England team, who had beaten the West Indies in a one-day international in the city.
Mr Cunningham told Bristol Crown Court that after he refused the pair re-entry to the club in the upmarket Clifton area, Stokes began to mock gay friends William O’Connor and Kai Barry, well-known locally for their flamboyant behaviour.
‘The ginger guy [Stokes] picked up on this and started to take the mick out of them,’ he told the jury of the incident on the night of September 24 last year, which was caught on CCTV.
‘He started to mimic their actions. He didn’t speak, he just made noises to sound like them because if you hear them speak they are quite high-pitched guys.
‘They are quite effeminate guys and their voices are different. He made noises to try to copy them, not saying anything, just making stupid noises. Just like hand gestures... camp gestures.’
Mr Cunningham said he did not step in until Stokes flicked a cigarette butt at the men. ‘I asked him, “If you are going to start on someone, start on me”,’ he said.
The bouncer, who has four gold front teeth and is heavily tattooed, also said Stokes had abused him earlier in the encounter.
‘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 towards myself. He mentioned my gold teeth and he said I looked like a **** 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 mentioned my tattoos and how s*** they were. 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 using, Mr Cunningham replied: ‘Quite a spiteful tone, quite an angry tone.’
Durham cricketer Stokes, 27, faces a single count of affray.
He is standing trial alongside Ryan Hale, 27, and Ryan Ali, 28 – two men he allegedly knocked out in a brawl near the club. Prosecu- tors allege 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 out Hale and Ali.
Ali allegedly threatened Mr Hales with a bottle, with Hale said to have picked up a metal pole from a street sign. Stokes claims he was acting in self-defence and took action after Ali and Hale were homophobic towards Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor.
But Nicholas Corsellis, prosecuting, said Stokes was instead acting with ‘revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind’. The jury also heard allegations that Mr Hales kicked the prostrate Ali in the head. Mr Hales was not arrested but interviewed under caution in connection with the fight. He was never charged.
The Nottinghamshire batsman, 29, had been credited by the prosecution with trying to calm the
‘The ginger one offered me £60’ ‘He got verbally abusive’
fight. But when the jury were shown footage of the incident by Detective Constable Daniel Adams, Hale’s barrister Stephen Mooney asked him: ‘What I am going to suggest you see here is Alex Hales stamping down upon Ryan Ali at least twice. Does that accord with what you see?’
DC Adams replied: ‘Yes, a stamp or a kick.’ Mr Mooney said: ‘We have someone lying on the floor, Ryan Ali, and moving towards him is Mr Alex Hales. Would it be fair to describe that as Alex Hales kicking the man in the head?’
DC Adams replied: ‘That’s what it looks like.’ Mr Mooney said: ‘It isn’t what it looks like – it’s what it is.’ DC Adams replied: ‘Yes.’
Mr Mooney said: ‘Ryan Hale has just been in a situation with Mr Stokes and Mr Ali. At the same time, Mr Hales has come in and used deliberate force with a shod foot, stamping down upon Ryan Ali to his body, then kicking him deliberately and in a considered fashion to his head?
DC Adams replied: ‘He definitely used his feet on three occasions.’
Stokes, of Castle Eden, County Durham, and Ali and Hale, both of Bristol, all deny affray.
The trial continues.