‘Superhero’ couple cleared over fight at City karaoke bar

A COUPLE dressed as Wonder Woman and Batgirl were accused of getting into a brawl at a City karaoke bar have been cleared of affray.

Joanna Downing, 39, and Miriam Ahmed, 38, donned superhero costumes for a day of drinking, games and frivolity to celebrate their upcoming marriage. But the court was told the day was soured when a row over Ms Ahmed’s sister being poked in the chest descended into a fight at the Karaoke Box in Farringdon.

Standing trial at Southwark crown court, Downing insisted she herself had come under attack when she demanded an apology from the man who delivered the poke. Ahmed, an actress with Coronation Street and Skins on her CV, said she entered the fray to defend her wife.

At the end of a week-long trial, both women were found not guilty of affray. The incident happened on July 24, 2021, when Ms Downing, dressed as Batgirl, and Ms Ahmed, in a Wonder Woman costume, were with friends in a karaoke singing booth, the court was told.

They said a man had randomly approached Ms Ahmed’s sister, poked her in the chest, flicked her nose, and walked away laughing. The women followed the man to a nearby singing booth, and after demanding an apology from him Ms Ahmed said the scene quickly turned into “sheer bedlam”.

Ms Downing was accused of attacking another woman, Lucy Ratcliff, by grabbing at her throat and pulling her hair. But she told police her own hair was pulled in the mêlée. Ms Ahmed faced claims that she had thrown punches, but said she acted in defence of her wife. “I was fearing for her safety and everything I did was in defence of her”, she said.

Ahmed and Downing, who live in Hornchurch, both denied and were found not guilty of affray.