Passenger on cruise guilty of assault after brawl at buffet
A CRUISE passenger kicked another holidaymaker “like a penalty”, rugby-tackled a second to the ground and punched a third unconscious in a rage at the late-night buffet.
Drunk financial adviser Paul Evans, 45, left witnesses in fear he would “kill someone,” a court heard.
He lashed out when the Gardner family asked him to stop swearing as they dined at a buffet during the P&O cruise of the Norwegian fjords.
Evans, travelling with YouTube star girlfriend Tabatha Young, grappled with Alice Gardner, 21, who was with her sister Amelia, 16, and parents Justin and Sarah. Nurse Mrs Gardner told the court she tried to film Evans on her husband’s phone for evidence but Evans “rugby tackled” her to the ground, snatched the handset and threw it into the sea.
Other passengers looked on in horror as he returned to punch and kick her statistician husband and project manager Andrew Irving.
Mr Irving, who was there with his wife and 10-year-old granddaughter, said he was knocked to the ground and kicked by the thug “like he was taking a penalty”. Mr Gardner was knocked out cold, his nose bleeding and glasses smashed.
During a seven-day trial at Southampton Crown Court, witness Stuart Bishop, 46, said: “No human being should be kicked in that way. I thought [Evans] was going to kill someone to be honest.” Attacker Evans, a former stockbroker, and Young were restrained by security and taken into custody by police at Southampton.
He denied robbery and three counts of assault causing actual bodily harm during the early hours of July 26, 2019, claiming he had been trying to protect his girlfriend. Yesterday Evans, of Clayhill, Essex, was convicted of causing ABH to Mr Gardner and Mr Irving. He was cleared of attacking Alice and robbing Mrs Gardner of the phone. Young pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to Mrs Gardner. The couple will be sentenced next month.
The cruise, on P&O’s Royal Britannia ship, is sold as: “A once-ina-lifetime experience.” A suite costs from £1,429 per person.