Ex-Spurs man is cleared
A FORMER Tottenham Hotspur vicechairman has been cleared of punching another customer in a row in a Harrods queue after he claimed he was told to “f*** off, you dirty Jew” while buying a challah.
DavidBuchler,64,smiledandnodded to the jury at Isleworth Crown Court after it took just 90 minutes to return a not guilty verdict on Wednesday.
The grandfather-of-seven had been accused of breaking James Birrane’s nose after getting into a row with Mr Birrane’s wife, Rosaria, 54, when she accused Mr Buchler of queue jumping.
But the former Spurs executive claimed his elbow hit Mr Birrane’s face in self-defence because he feared he was going to be attacked.
Mr Buchler told the court there had been a misunderstanding as he bought challah and croissants.
“I’m not a man who swears,” he said. “I’m not an angry chap. Icanbefirmif Ineedtobefirm, but I’m always courteous.”
Describing the incident on New Year’s Eve last year — his birthday — Mr Buchler said: “I felt I was about to be hit.
“I was defending myself, but I am so sorry if I have really hurt him and he has David Buchler broken his nose. I’m devastated.”
Mr Buchler told the court he was not aggressive “in the slightest” and had “never hit anybody”.
After the incident he waited with a security guard because he “didn’t want to leave in an improper way”, before going to buy Ugg slippers.
Jonathan Goldberg, QC, representing Mr Buchler, accused Mrs Birrane of uploading racist articles and posts on the internet.
He produced an article shared on her Facebook page about Islamic repression of women. Mrs Birrane had written: “Some cultures are better than others. All cultures are better than Islam.”
He also produced an article about a “Jewish conspiracy to take over the world” and said: “Just to show you’re an equal-opportunity racist.” Mrs Birrane shouted back: “Jewish conspiracy to take over the world? Oh, for f***’s sake. Do shut up.”
David Lammy, Tottenham MP, gave a character reference for Mr Buchler, as did Barrington Black, the former Supreme Court judge of Gibraltar. He said Mr Buchler was “e x t r e m e l y g e n t l e ma n l y, extremely kind”.
Mr B u c h l e r, of Mayfair, had denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm.