England cricketer Ben Stokes tried to bribe a doorman to gain entry to a nightclub before mocking his appearance and fighting with two other men on a night out in Bristol, a court has heard.
On the second day of Stokes’ trial for affray at Bristol Crown Court, the head doorman at Mbargo nightclub, Andrew Cunningham, 37, said Stokes and his teammate Alex Hales attempted to re-enter the club after it closed at 2am.
They had visited the club with England teammates earlier in the evening, around 11.30pm. Their behaviour at this time was described by Mr Cunningham as "good as gold".
But Mr Cunningham said when Stokes and Hales returned again, after 2am, Stokes began to abuse him when the pair were refused entry to the club.
“The ginger one [Stokes] offered me £60 and asked me if that would get them in,” he told the jury.
“He had a conversation with his friend and he said '£300 get us in' and I still told them no. I told them I would not have a job to go back to in the morning.
“He got a bit verbally abusive towards myself. He mentioned my gold teeth and he said I looked like a c*** and I replied, 'Thank you very much'.”
Mr Cunningham added: “He mentioned my tattoos and how s*** they were. He just looked at me and told me my tattoos were s*** and to look at my job, which he obviously wasn't happy about for keeping him out.”
Mr Cunningham said at that point two gay men he knew, William O'Connor and Kai Barry, then emerged from the nightclub and began talking to each other.
The doorman said Stokes noticed them and began mimicking the “flamboyant” gestures of the men, flicking a cigarette at them. Mr Cunningham said he told Stokes: “If you want to vent your anger at someone, do it at me, not them.”
When Stokes' barrister Gordon Cole QC cross examined Mr Cunningham, he suggested that on Stokes and Hales' return to the club, the doorman had acted aggressively towards the pair.
He also suggested Hales and Stokes were laughing and joking with Mr O’Connor and Mr Barry, engaging in an exchange of “mickey-taking”, but Mr Cunningham disagreed.
The doorman replied: “Definitely not. I never became aggressive. They were laughing and joking at them, not with them.”
Mr Cunningham said two more men – Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, who stand trial accused of affray with Stokes – then left Mbargo and walked off with Mr O'Connor and Mr Barry.
He claimed that Stokes became annoyed after he refused to shake his hand, and then the cricketer walked off with his teammate Hales.
The court then viewed footage of the brawl, filmed by student Max Wilson who witnessed the fight from th window of his flat.
The prosecution alleges trouble flared after the cricketers caught up with Mr Ali, Mr Hale, Mr O'Connor and Mr Barry.
Stokes is accused of knocking out both Mr Hale and Mr Ali during the fracas.
Mr Ali allegedly threatened Stokes’ teammate Hales with a bottle, and Ryan Hale is said to have taken a metal pole from a street sign and brought it to the scene.
Stokes claims he was acting in self defence and took action after Mr Ali and Mr Hale were homophobic towards Mr Barry and Mr O'Connor.
But Nicholas Corsellis, prosecuting, told jurors Stokes was instead acting with “revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind”.
The trial continues.
Press Association contributed to this report
