I was talking to God
Stokes explains club CCTV & admits memory blackout after downing ‘Jagerbombs’
CRICKET star Ben Stokes told a court he was gazing into the night sky and talking to God just before he was involved in a street brawl.
The 27-year-old made the bizarre remark in cross-examination yesterday on the fifth day of his trial for affray.
In footage of Stokes talking to a bouncer at Bristol’s Mbargo club, he also looks up and mouths words.
Prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis asked who he was speaking to and Stokes replied: “God?”
The England allrounder said he could not recall punching Ryan Ali, 28, or pal Ryan Hale, 27.
He claimed he intervened as they subjected two gay men to homophobic slurs – but could not say what they were.
Mr Corsellis suggested he had trouble remembering because he was “really very drunk”. Stokes denied this but told the court he “potentially had some Jagerbombs in Mbargo”.
Mr Corsellis said: “You don’t remember any of the words of the homophobic abuse you assert took place. Is it because you are hiding behind your lack of recollection because you know full well you carried out a retaliatory attack upon those two men, first Mr Hale and then Mr Ali?”
He said: “No, all my actions were in self-defence and fearing for my safety.”
Co-defendant Ali said his recollection was “incomplete” after he suffered a “significant head injury” in the fight. The jury previously heard Ali had a fractured left eye socket, a cracked tooth and cuts and bruises.
Ali said he remembered walking with Mr Hale and two gay men, Kai Barry and William O’Connor, “having some banter” before he saw “a tall blond guy in the road charging towards me”.
Ali denied being the “initial aggressor” and asked if he had been looking for a fight he replied “definitely not”. Asked why Stokes may have charged, Ali replied: “I can make my own perception from the CCTV. He was angry and he was looking for someone to pick on.”
Stokes, of Durham, and Ali, of Bristol, deny affray. Mr Hale, 27, was acquitted of the same charge on Thursday. The Bristol crown court trial continues.
He was angry and he was looking for someone to pick on
RYAN ALI ON WHY STOKES MAY HAVE CHARGED AT HIM