A CARLISLE man has vowed to appeal against his conviction for assaulting a club doorman who openly admitted having no memory of being attacked.
Aaron O’Neil, 27, told magistrates that the man he is now convicted of assaulting had grabbed him, causing them to have an “accidental clash of heads” and this was what left the doorman with concussion.
But the prosecution case was that O’Neil, a man with no previous convictions, had deliberately headbutted the doorman.
The defendant has consistently denied deliberately assaulting the man.
During a two-hour trial, the court first heard from Robert Reid, the doorman who was injured. He said the first time he became aware of the incident at The Crescent Bar in Carlisle city centre was when he woke in A&E on the morning of October 9.
He had suffered concussion.
Asked whether he could provide an explanation of his injury, he said that he could not. He accepted having spoken to O’Neil since the incident and telling him there were “no hard feelings” but he denied saying he did not want the case to proceed.
Under questioning from defence lawyer John Halewood-Dodd, Mr Reid accepted that it would not be appropriate for door staff to lay hands on a customer in order to remove the person from a pub or club.
Asked if it was possible that there had as claimed been an “accidental clash of heads,” Mr Reid said: “I doubt it because I’m extremely careful in my practice.” The court heard from two police officers who said they saw he defendant headbutt the victim.
But in his evidence, O’Neil repeated the version of events he gave to the police after his arrest. He said he had been asked the leave the bar and accused door staff of behaving aggressively towards him.
Mr Reid, he said, had grabbed his collar and pulled him forward and “in panic” he had gone forward, at which point their heads clashed.
Giving evidence, he said he had consumed four pints at the most and was not drunk. After visiting the toilet, he had planned to leave as requested but was approached by Mr Reid, who appeared “fired-up,” he said.
“Mr Reid approached me in an aggressive manner,” he said.
Mr Shelley said to O’Neil: “This was not an accidental headbutt; it was a deliberate action. You deliberately headbutted Mr Reid.” The prosecutor added: “Both officers said clearly that they saw the defendant headbutt Mr Reid while they were in the bar.”
Mr Halewood-Dodd said one of the officers had confirmed seeing the victim “take hold” of the defendant before there was pushing and shoving. O’Neil’s version of events was “completely plausible,” he said.
Declaring the defendant guilty, magistrates noted that O’Neil gave consistent evidence, CCTV footage provided no clarity, and the victim had no memory of the assault, but they said they deemed the evidence of the two police officers to be “credible and honest.”
They added: “Therefore the prosecution has proved this case.”
They fined O’Neil £180, with costs of £620 and a £34 victim surcharge. They also ordered that he pay Mr Reid £250 compensation. The defendant’s total debt to the court now stands at £1,084. Mr Halewood-Dodd said his client intended to appeal against the conviction.
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