Video played at cricketer’s trial for affray shows him delivering knockout blow to head of former serviceman

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

England cricketer Ben Stokes was behaving like a “football hooligan” as he punched an Afghanistan war veteran to the floor while the man “had his hands up” during a late-night street brawl in Bristol, a court heard.

Earlier in the evening, Stokes had been mocked by two gay men for wearing bright white trainers encrusted with gold emblems, a jury was told.

Video played during the second day of Stokes’ trial for affray at Bristol crown court showed the 27-year-old delivering a knockout blow to the head of former serviceman Ryan Hale.

Stokes and his co-defendents deny the charges. Stokes is expected to give evidence on Thursday, with a verdict anticipated next week.

The court heard that the punch was administered with such force that student Max Wilson, who was filming the incident on his mobile phone from a flat three floors above, could be heard exclaiming “Fuck!” on the footage.

“It was such a fierce punch, it just took me by surprise,” Wilson told the jury. “I felt a bit sorry for the guy that got punched, he had his hands up.”

Wilson told the court a group of six men – including Stokes’ co-defendants Hale and firefighter Ryan Ali, also charged with affray – were behaving like football hooligans. He said he began filming the incident after hearing raised voices as he tried to get to sleep.

“They were clearly drunk,” he said. “They were all quite reared up and acting violently.”

Stokes’ fellow England cricketer Alex Hales also kicked or stamped on Ali at least once, said PC Daniel Adams, the lead investigator in the case, in response to a question from Hale’s counsel.

Hales was interviewed under caution but not arrested.

The court heard that Stokes had earlier become “aggressive” after being refused entry to Mbargo nightclub in the Clifton triangle area of Bristol city centre. He and a group of England teammates had been out celebrating victory over the West Indies in a match the previous day.

Andrew Cunningham, a doorman at the nightclub, told jurors that Stokes had mocked his appearance and made reference to his job in a derogatory manner after he refused an alleged £300 bribe when Stokes and Hales tried to gain access to the club after it had stopped letting people in for the evening.

Cunningham, 37, is heavily tattooed, with illustrations visible on his neck, hands and a geometric bird tattoo below his left eye. “First of all he mentioned he mentioned my teeth, I have gold teeth. Then he told me I looked like a cunt, then he mentioned my tattoos, how shit they are,” Cunningham told the court. “I said ‘thank you’ ... it doesn’t matter. I don’t rise to it. I’m quite thick-skinned like that.”

Cunningham added: “He had quite a spiteful tone, quite an angry tone.”

He told jurors he had witnessed Stokes, widely considered one of the most talented all-round cricketers in the world, “mocking” William O’Connor and Kai Barry, a gay couple from Bristol, after he was refused access to the nightclub.

Cunningham told the court he believed Stokes “bullied” the couple because he noticed the way they presented was “a bit more demonstrative, flamboyant” than other people.

“The ginger guy picked up on this, he started to mimick their actions,” Cunningham said. “He didn’t actually speak, he made noises to sound like them. He was making stupid sounds and camp hand gestures.”

Gordon Cole QC, representing Stokes, asked Cunningham, a key witness, whether O’Connor and Barry were laughing and joking about his client’s shoes.

Referring to the CCTV footage, Cole said: “They are pointing down towards Mr Stokes’ shoes. Did you hear any conversation about shoes and Mr Stokes’ shoes having gold locks on the back of them?”

Cunningham said he did not.

Adams told the court that Hale and Ali, both 28, had bottles in their hands as the fight broke out minutes later around the corner from Mbargo nightclub.

Student Lauren Sweeney told the court she had witnessed Hale jumping to his feet after being knocked out by Stokes. “He suddenly ran up the hill,” she said. “I saw him grab a road sign and break off one of the legs.

“He seemed to know exactly what he was doing,” she told the jury. “He then ran back towards the group. I thought he was going to use the road sign in an aggressive act. It was more than just self-defence, it was an aggressive run towards them.”

The trial continues.