Weather
Bouncers in assault case await sentence
From the Gazette & Herald, first published Thursday 5th Aug 2004.
GAZETTE & HERALD: Two folk festival bouncers involved in violence in a Chippenham curry house have had their sentencing postponed after one of them was involved in a second bust up.
Paul Ellis, who has a previous conviction for manslaughter, had a knife when he committed an affray in Derbyshire while he was on bail for the incident off the Market Place in May 2003.
Judge John McNaught, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, adjourned the case to Derby next week saying that 43-year-old Ellis must be sentenced for both matters together.
Annoyed that the second offence had not been mentioned before the latest hearing he said: "I think it is ludicrous to bring them here for a sentence that is non-effective."
He adjourned the case, releasing Ellis on bail even though he said the Midlands offence was `with a knife by a man who has been convicted of manslaughter with a knife'.
His co-defendant in the Chippenham offence, 28-year-old Richard Oxspring, was remanded in custody.
The two men pleaded guilty to charges of affray on the first morning of their trial at Swindon crown court earlier this year. They had also faced two charges of racially aggravated actual bodily harm over the May 2003 incident. But after they had entered guilty pleas to the public order charge the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed to trial with the racial assaults.
Oxspring and Ellis were in the town to work as bouncers at the Chippenham Folk Festival over the Spring Bank Holiday last year. On the evening of May 22 the pair went to the Taj Mahal restaurant on The Causeway. They both became abusive towards staff and shouted `you Paki bastard', an earlier hearing was told.
Oxspring allegedly struck restaurant owner Mohammad Arju Miah and the pair used a table and chair as weapons.
Oxspring, of Newbowls Over, in Bolsover, Derbyshire, was accused of racially aggravated actual bodily harm on Mr Miah. Ellis, of The Colonnade, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, was accused of racially aggravated common assault on Niaz Ahmed and both men were also accused together of racially aggravated common assault on a third man, Amir Ali.
When they first appeared before the crown court in October 2003 the Midlanders pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, claiming `lawful self defence'.
However they changed their pleas on the affray matter, avoiding a trial, and the case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.
The charges relating to the three assaults are not to be proceeded with because they are encompassed in the affray charges, the court was told.
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
