Stokes ‘floored man as he was backing away’
A star in stripes... park welcomes baby zebra
CRICKETER Ben Stokes floored a man with a single punch in a street brawl, a court heard yesterday.
Ryan Ali was allegedly retreating as the England player attacked him.
Stokes, 27, had wanted to exact “retaliation or punishment” for an attempted bottle attack on teammate Alex Hales, the court heard.
Ali, 28, suffered a fractured left eye socket, a broken tooth and bruising to his head after the attack in Bristol, the court heard.
Stokes later told police: “I did what I did to defend myself.” He had already knocked out Ali’s friend Ryan Hale, 27, when off-duty police community support officer Mark Spure arrived on the scene near to Bristol’s Mbargo nightclub last September. He told Stokes yesterday Bristol Crown Court: “I saw a group of people fighting, three or five people involved in some sort of scuffle.” He described Stokes as the main aggressor, who struck a man in the head “with a clenched fist”. He said the man who had been hit “seemed to be trying to back away or move away”. Ali and Hale had previously left the club with two gay men while Stokes and Mr Hales were outside, the court heard. Stokes declined to answer questions in police interviews. But in a statement, he insisted Ali and Hale had goaded the gay men with “nasty homophobic language”. Stokes, of Durham, Ali and Hale, of Bristol, deny affray. The hearing continues. THIS adorable baby zebra is earning her stripes as one of the top attractions at a safari park. The little foal was born to first-time mother Akuna. Keeper Vicky Barsham, from the West Midlands Safari Park, near Kidderminster, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome our first ever baby Grevy’s zebra to the park. Akuna is already proving to be a very attentive and caring mother. The foal is doing really well – she’s very active, enjoying dust baths and running around the safari.”