Stokes claims he was defending two gay men in nightclub brawl
BEN STOKES, the England cricketer, fought with two men after they lunged at two gay clubbers with a bottle, he told a court yesterday.
Stokes is accused of affray following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub on Sept 25 last year.
The 27-year-old said he was protecting himself and those around him by fighting with Ryan Hale, an Afghanistan veteran, and Ryan Ali, a fire brigade worker.
“Everything I did… was in defence of myself,” insisted Stokes, who claims Hale and Ali were shouting “homophobic abuse” at clubbers Kai Barry and William O’connor. Stokes denied claims that he had been abusive towards “flamboyant” Mr Barry and Mr O’connor, saying instead that his conversation with them was in regard to his poor dress sense after they had earlier mocked his £695 shoes,
To illustrate Stokes’s taste, Gordon Cole QC, defending, showed the jury a pair of white Buscemi high-top shoes, with gold padlocks on the back, which Stokes claimed Mr Barry and Mr O’connor were laughing at.
Stokes, who denies flicking a cigarette butt at Mr Barry and Mr O’connor, said their conversation revolved entirely around “my attire on that night”.
As Mr Cole held up the Buscemi leather shoes, Stokes said: “I had never heard of the brand, I just quite liked them… I get told by quite a lot of my teammates that I dress the worst.”
Stokes agreed with Mr Cole that Mr O’connor and Mr Barry were “openly camp”, but he denied claims that any of his actions were homophobic.
“No, absolutely not,” Stokes said. “The only comments between myself and the gay couple was what we had chosen to wear that night.”
Stokes, on the fourth day of his trial for affray at Bristol Crown Court, told how he had drunk two pints and at least six vodka and lemonades during the evening before the 2.30am brawl.
He felt “under threat” at all times when he punched Mr Hale, 27, and Mr Ali, 28, on Sept 25 last year.
Yesterday, Mr Hale was acquitted of affray by the jury of six men and six women on the direction of the judge.
Stokes insisted he had stepped in to protect Mr Barry and Mr O’connor after hearing Mr Hale and Mr 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’.”
The alleged brawl began when Mr Ali allegedly held the neck of the upturned bottle in his hand and began “waving it around”. “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 doing damage to anybody,” Stokes said.
When asked if he had become “enraged” at any point, Stokes replied it was a “difficult question”. The 6ft 2in sportsman added: “I didn’t know if they were carrying more weapons… At all times I felt under threat from these two.” Stokes, of Castle Eden, Durham, and Mr Ali, of Bristol, each deny affray.