« ‘HE MOCKED GAY PAIR AND KNOCKED OUT TWO MEN’
Stokes trial told two men were knocked out
ENGLAND cricketer Ben Stokes abused two gay men and humiliated a nightclub bouncer before he ‘lost control’ and beat two men unconscious on a boozy night out, a court heard yesterday.
The 27-year-old star faces a single count of affray alongside Ryan Hale, also 27, and Ryan Ali, 28 – the two men he allegedly knocked out.
Bristol Crown Court heard how Stokes attacked ‘with revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind’ and his actions went ‘well beyond’ self-defence.
As well as being shown video of the ruckus, jurors were told of the player’s unsavoury behaviour towards two gay men he met at a Bristol nightclub in September of last year.
Stokes, currently on a £1.4million Indian Premier League contract, allegedly made homophobic jibes to the ‘flamboyant’ pair outside the Mbargo club, appearing to mimic their ‘camp’ mannerisms before flicking a cigarette butt at them.
Farther down the street, he fought his co-defendants in a ‘sustained episode of significant violence that left onlookers shocked’.
The fight was captured on video by film student Max Wilson, who was woken by the commotion.
He described the group as ‘confrontational’ and ‘acting like football hooligans’, prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis said.
Hale was punched into senselessness, while Ali was left with a fractured eye socket.
Fellow England cricketer Alex Hales was said to have tried to defuse the situation, saying at one point: ‘Stokes, Stokes, that’s enough.’
Yesterday, father-of-two Stokes, who plays county cricket for Durham, appeared sombre, looking straight ahead in the dock.
He was supported by wife Clare in the public gallery. He did not acknowledge his co-defendants.
Stokes was suspended from the England team after the incident and missed the Ashes series in Australia. He has since played in Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan and last week starred as England beat India at Edgbaston. On September 24 last year, Stokes and his England teammates had been celebrating their one-day win over West Indies in Bristol earlier that day.
The players were in the Mbargo club from about 11.30pm. They left about 1am. Shortly after 2am, Stokes and Mr Hales returned, asking to be allowed back in.
Stokes offered bouncer Andrew Cunningham £60 then £300 in cash for re-admittance, the court heard, before telling the doorman, who had gold teeth, ‘your teeth make you look like a **** ’, and that his tattoos were ‘s***’. The cricketer then made homophobic jibes to Kai Barry and William O’Connor, who were standing near the door of the nightclub, before flicking his cigarette at them, it is said.
Mr Corsellis told the jury: ‘Mr Cunningham observed Mr Stokes’s behaviour towards them [the gay men]. He noted that he was mimicking their voices and mannerisms in what he described as “a derogatory way”, thereby making fun of their camp behaviour.’
Prosecutors say they are not sure about the precise spark that triggered the fight between Stokes and Hale and Ali.
Stokes was interviewed by police on two occasions and made ‘no comment’ answers to all questions but gave three prepared statements.
He said he and England teammate Alex Hales were walking to a casino when he overheard ‘nasty homophobic language’ from Ali and Hale.
‘He said he decided to intervene and said, “Leave it out, you shouldn’t be taking the p*** because they are gay”,’ prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis said.
Stokes denied being ‘aggressive’ towards bouncer Andrew Cunningham, saying he was rude and had a ‘chip on his shoulder’.
Neither Mr Barry nor Mr O’Connor will be giving evidence.
Footage shows them walking alongside Hale and Ali before Stokes and Mr Hales catch up.
Mr Corsellis said CCTV showed Mr Barry grabbing Ali’s groin, then trying to take his arm. Ali is shown pushing Mr Barry away but not with ‘significant force’.
‘Is this banter between them or is there something more sinister going
‘Lost control and started to attack’
on?’ he asked the jury. Ali told police the men had been touching his and Hale’s bottoms, but that they ‘took it as a bit of a joke’.
Referring to the fight, Mr Corsellis said: ‘How precisely it started is only known by the defendants. The violence that erupted could actually have stopped very quickly and it would have remained a relatively minor incident. But during the incident Mr Stokes lost his control and started to attack with revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind.
‘Well beyond acting in self-defence or defence of another.
‘He knocked Mr Hale unconscious and then – after time to pause for thought, to calm – he did exactly the same to Mr Ali. Mr Ali received significant injuries, including a fractured eye socket, and required hospital treatment.’
He earlier told the jury it was of ‘regret that these defendants are before you, for they are all young men of promise’.
Stokes’s arrest was caught on a police officer’s body camera, which shows him winking and mouthing a phrase repeatedly at Mr Hales.
Stokes, of Castle Eden, Durham, Ali, of Bristol, and Hale, of Bristol, all deny affray.
The trial continues.