Ben Stokes Was The 'Main Aggressor': Witness
Witness Mark Spure, an off-duty police community support officer (PCSO), told the jury that he had spotted "three to five" people involved in a "scuffle" during the night of the incident.
According to Spure, he tried to separate two of the men, while the others continued to fight behind him.
"The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual," Spure informed the court as reported in BBC.
"In my statement I describe him as a gentleman with ginger or light brown hair. He had a green t-shirt on."
Spure in his statement to the court also mentioned that Ali, one of the accused, was getting away from the fight when he was punched by Mr Stokes.
Spure said he had identified Mr Stokes to police officers, who then arrested the cricketer.
The court has been told that Stokes first hit Hale, knocking him to the ground, before rendering Ali unconscious in the punch seen by Spure.
The trial continues.
Stokes Acted Like 'Football Hooligan'
Max Wilson, who filmed the fight from his bedroom window, said that the group of six men were “clearly drunk” and sounded like “football hooligans”.
“They were clearly drunk,” he said. “They were all quite reared up and acting violently.”
The 21-year-old, who was a student in the Clifton Triangle area of the city when the incident occurred, told the court that he was surprised by the force of a punch thrown and felt sorry for the man who was hit.
"It was just such a fierce punch," Wilson said. "It just took me by surprise. I felt a bit sorry for the guy who got punched. It looked like he had his hands up."
According to PC Daniel Adams, the footage also showed the officer in the case, Hales kicking Ali in the head as he lay on the pavement.
Trial Underway in Bristol
Ben Stokes knocked two men unconscious in a street brawl after flicking a cigarette end at gay men he mocked outside a nightclub, the prosecution said on Monday.
"During the incident Mr. Stokes lost his control and started to attack with revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind. Well beyond acting in self-defense or defense of another," prosecutor Corsellis said. "He knocked Mr. Hale unconscious and then — after time to pause for thought, to calm — he did exactly the same to Mr. Ali."
After being turned away from the door, Stokes spoke to two men — Kai Barry and William O'Connor — who were described by the prosecutor as "flamboyant, extrovert and openly gay." Security camera footage, which had no audio recording, showed Stokes flicking the end of a cigarette toward one of the men.
Citing testimony from the doorman, Corsellis said Stokes was "mimicking their voices and mannerisms ... making fun of their camp behavior" before leaving the area in an "angry state of mind."
Stokes then encountered Barry, O'Connor, Hale and Ali further down the road where the fighting began.
"We know Mr. Ali had a bottle and he was using it. No one else was armed," Corsellis said. “Mr. Stokes became involved and punched out and grappled with Mr. Ali on the ground."
Stokes was arrested at the scene and footage from one of the police officers' body cameras captured him saying he intervened because a man was "abusing my two friends for being gay." Hale told officers that there was "banter but no malice."
Ben Stokes Under Trial
England cricketer Ben Stokes was involved in a bar first last September and his hearing in the matter got underway on Monday in Bristol, England.
The all-rounder, who was a key performer in England’s 31-run victory over India in the Test series opener, is accused of knocking two men unconscious outside a nightclub. Stokes had been partying with England teammates at the Mbargo nightclub after a one-day international against the West Indies. He left the club at 12:46 a.m. but returned at 2:08 a.m. and was refused entry because the club was closed. Stokes allegedly hurled insulting comments at the door supervisor.
Following that, Stokes got involved in a fight with former soldier Ryan Hale and emergency services worker Ryan Ali.
Ali's eye socket was fractured by Stokes and Hale was also hospitalized with a cut to his forehead, prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis said in his opening statement.
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