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“I protected gay men in brawl”

Posted in Featured, Sports

Published on August 12, 2018 with No Comments

England cricket player Ben Stokes told police that two gay men thanked him for protecting them from homophobic abuse following a street brawl. Stokes is standing trial at Bristol Crown Court accused of knocking out two other men outside a nightclub in the southwest English city in September last year. Prosecutors say Stokes was the “main aggressor” in a fight that broke out after an England match. But in a statement provided to police Stokes said he only stepped in after hearing two men being homophobic toward two other men. Stokes said “Matters had become too serious to ignore and that I had to intervene.”

Stokes himself is accused of earlier mocking the gay men outside the club and flicking a cigarette butt at them. Stokes denies taunting them, telling police they “thanked me for preventing them from being beaten up.”

Earlier, the jury was shown security camera footage of a gay man allegedly grabbing the groin of another defendant shortly before a brawl erupted.

Jurors have been shown footage of Stokes brawling with Ali and Hale, who are friends, in the early hours of September 25 last year after walking away from the Bristol nightclub Mbargo. All three defendants deny the charge.

The prosecution said Stokes told police he intervened with Ali and Hale because he overheard “nasty homophobic language”, then told police he acted in self-defence when he thought he was about to be hit with a bottle. He allegedly knocked Hale unconscious, then Ali likewise.

Jurors were also shown security camera footage of Ali and Hale, holding beer bottles, walking up a road with Kai Barry and William O’Connor.

 

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