Ben Stokes was main aggressor in Bristol brawl: Witness

When asked about separating Stokes and Ali, Spure told the court: "The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual."

England cricketer Ben Stokes was the "main aggressor" in a fight that took place near a nightclub, an onlooker told a court. The English all-rounder is accused of affray in the Clifton Triangle area of Bristol during the early hours of September 25 last year. He is alleged to have offered doorman Andrew Cunningham £300 to gain entry into nightclub Mbargo, which was refused, as it was past 2 am.

Stokes is said to have mocked two gay men, Kai Barry and William O'Connor, outside the club before knocking out two other men they were with a short time later. Bristol Crown Court heard evidence from off-duty police community support officer Andrew Spure, who was celebrating a colleague's leaving do at Mbargo on the night in question. In a statement written hours after the alleged incident, he described how he was walking down a nearby street after leaving the nightclub. "I saw a group of people fighting, there were three to five people involved in some form of scuffle," his statement said. "I walked into the road to try to separate the group and get in between them.

"As I was on my own, when I separated two of them more people carried on behind me. "While I was trying to stop the fighting, one of the males struck the other in the head with a clenched fist." The court has heard it was Stokes who had struck Ryan Ali, knocking him to the floor. Ali, 28, and his friend Ryan Hale, 27, are also standing trial accused of affray during the incident. When asked about separating Stokes and Ali, Spure told the court: "The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual."

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