Activist ‘hit disabled Labour man at pub quiz’

POLICE were called after a row between one of Jeremy Corbyn’s Left-wing supporters and a disabled Party member at a Labour pub quiz fundraising night.

David Eyles, disabilities officer for his local party, claimed he was hit by activist Chris Stonehouse when they clashed over Mr Stonehouse’s support for the pro-Corbyn Momentum group.

Mr Eyles, who has a fragile spine and neck, says he was hit in the face by Mr Stonehouse after challenging him over where Momentum got its money and saying he was loyal to the party not to any faction.

Mr Stonehouse vehemently denied hitting Mr Eyles – whom he said told him to ‘f*** off’ four times. Tempers flared at a local Labour pub quiz at The Beehive in Labour MP Neil Coyle’s South London constituency of Bermondsey a week ago. The Metropolitan Police confirmed officers were called to the pub and said the two men agreed to a ‘community resolution,’ whereby an apology is made.

Mr Eyles, 57, said he suffers from spinal stenosis and has a steel plate in his neck which limits his movement.

He said Mr Stonehouse hit him after he criticised Momentum and told him to ‘f*** off’. ‘Next minute, out of the blue came this backhander across my left cheek,’ said Mr Eyles. ‘He stood up, leant over and bang! I nearly fell off the chair. I had a sore face for an hour. He knew I was disabled.’ Mr Stonehouse said last night: ‘I did not hit anyone. I’d never met David Eyles before and didn’t know he was disabled.

‘We were having an amiable conversation until he found out I was from a different section of the party. ‘He told me to “f*** off” four times.’ Mr Stonehouse also claimed the police accused Mr Eyles of ‘wasting police time’ but MP Mr Coyle, who was at the event, said he saw Mr Stonehouse hit Mr Eyles. Mr Eyles himself acknowledged he was outspoken, saying: ‘If you wanted to target somebody that won’t back down and will speak his mind, I am he.’ Both Mr Eyles and Mr Stonehouse said they had complained about each other to Labour HQ.