England Test star Ben Stokes has been declared not guilty by a Bristol jury.
Stokes missed the second Test against India at Lord’s to appear in court in Bristol to answer charges of affray following an incident outside the Mbargo nightclub last year.
Stokes, 27, had insisted he was acting in self-defence when he hit Ryan Ali, 28, and Ryan Hale, 27, after they had abused two gay men near a nightclub in Bristol. Stokes was also accused of mocking the two gay men.
Giving evidence, Stokes told the jury he intervened after hearing Hale and Ali launch homophobic abuse towards the two gay men Kai Barry and William O’Connor on a street near the nightclub – with Ali threatening him with a bottle in return.
The England all-rounder had earlier told the Bristol Crown Court that he was ‘absolutely not’ an angry man and denied having lost all control in a street brawl, although he did admit that his inconsistent recollection of events was the result of a ‘significant memory blackout’.
‘You don’t really remember significant parts of this incident, for example knocking Mr Ali out? Is that because you were really very drunk?’ asked the prosecutor, Nicholas Corsellis.
‘No. I think the whole incident would have been clouded because it was such… there was a lot of people around… a lot of shouting. I don’t remember every little detail,’ replied Stokes.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE
The incident took place in the early hours of 25 September 2017, as Stokes and some of his England teammates were out celebrating beating the West Indies in a match in Bristol on 24 September.
England scored 369-9 in their 50 overs, with Stokes scoring 73 off 63 balls (five fours, three sixes)
and returning figures of 4-0-25-0 (econ 6.25) as England won by 124 runs.
Stokes recalled having drunk a bottle of beer after the match, followed by two or three pints at the hotel, followed by five or six vodka and lemonades. The all-rounder added that he ‘potentially had some Jaegerbombs’ with his teammates inside Mbargo nightclub.
The ECB and the Professional Cricketers’ Association (the English players’ union) have both distanced themselves from the trial proceedings.
Stokes could have faced a maximum penalty of three years in jail, in addition to an unlimited fine, if he had been found guilty.
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Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
