The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Stokes to pay Elvis singer £200,000
Court: Footballer pays for head-butting in nightclub
Former Celtic and Hibs player Anthony Stokes has been ordered to pay an E l v i s impersonator ¤230,000 (£196,000) for head- butting him in a nightclub.
The Blackburn Rovers striker had already agreed to give his victim ¤30,000 for breaking his nose and two of his teeth and faces the second payout after being sued in the High Court in Dublin.
Former car park attendant Anthony Bradley, 53, was attacked by Stokes in the VIP section of Buck Whaleys nightclub in Dublin on June 8, 2013.
Stokes, awaiting the birth of a third child, did not attend and had no lawyers in court.
The footballer, who has six league title medals with Celtic and nine Republic of Ireland caps, was hit with a two-year suspended sentence earlier this month after admitting the assault.
He was ordered to pay Mr Bradley ¤150,000 in general damages, ¤50,000 in aggravated damages and ¤32,000 for medical expenses, his solicitor Joseph Burke confirmed.
Mr Bradley told the court hehas not receivedanapology from Stokes over the incident, although lawyers for the footballer apologised on his behalf during the sentencing hearing at the start of February.
The assault occurred in Buck Whaleys nightclub, where Stokes was on a night out with friends. Mr Bradley, who arrived two hours earlier and had drunk one pint of beer while there, twice had drink spilt onhimby aman before he was butted by Stokes. The footballer was escorted from the premises and told an employee: “If someone puts it up to me, I’m going to nut him.” Mr Bradley was butted across the bridge of his nose and suffered a deviated septum and two broken front teeth.
His medical ¤13,500.
Mr Bradley was away from his job as a car park attendant in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin for eight months and subsequently stopped working as he suffered physical and psychological effects. He has also been diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition since the assault, which causes pain across his neck and shoulders.
Stokes left Ireland aged 15 to join the Arsenal youth academy and moved to Falkirkaged17 beforegoing on toHibernian, Celtic and Blackburn. bills cost