Hells Angels ‘ruptured biker’s eyeballs’ after he refused to join gang

A BIKER was partially blinded by a gang of Hells Angels after he refused to join their UK chapter, saying he was “too old”, a court heard.

Christopher Harrison, 53, was left unconscious in a pool of blood when Matthew Barnes, 46, the Hells Angels leader, and other gang members allegedly targeted his eyes to stop him identifying them after the attack on Feb 20 last year.

He suffered two ruptured eyeballs and told how the blows were “raining in” on him after an argument with Oliver Wilkinson, 49, Mr Barnes’s co-defendant, at the Carlisle Pub in Hastings.

Around 200 people had gathered at the biker pub to watch a punk band play, with around 20 Hells Angels attending. Mr Wilkinson and Mr Harrison had once been friends, but had fallen out over the death of a fellow biker called “Papa Smurf ” years earlier.

Mr Wilkinson asked Mr Harrison to join their Hells Angels chapter, before bringing Mr Barnes outside to speak to him. Mr Barnes allegedly asked Mr Harrison: “Why would you not wear these colours?” before starting the attack by headbutting him in the face.

Anne Penfold, a bartender, ran outside after seeing several Hells Angels returning to the pub “pumped up”, jurors heard. She saw Mr Harrison unconscious on the patio and hailed a passing police van. Mrs Penfold described seeing “blood spatters” on the pub wall following the assault.

Nicholas Cooper, prosecuting, said: “The allegation is that both defendants, with others unknown, punched and kicked Mr Harrison to his head and face with such ferocity that both his eyeballs ruptured.” Mr Barnes, of Washington, West Sussex, and Wilkinson, of St Leonard’s-on Sea, East Sussex, both deny causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Later, Recorder Brian Altman QC discharged the jury and said the case was being put off until July because it was going to run over its two-week estimate, causing problems for jurors.