Ben Stokes trial - latest updates: England cricketer left man covered in blood 'because he was abusing my two friends for being gay', court hears
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The third day of Ben Stokes' trial came to an end on Wednesday, with the England cricketer accused of being the "main aggressor" in a fracas in Bristol.
The all-rounder, 27, is accused of attacking two men in a brawl outside a local nightclub last September.
Bristol Crown Court heard Mr Stokes “lost control” in the affray and knocked Ryan Hale, 27, to the ground before knocking out Ryan Ali, 28.
Mr Hale and Mr Ali are also charged with affray.
Follow the latest on the trial in our liveblog below.
Read yesterday's report on the trial.
Ben Stokes has arrived for day three of his affray trial at Bristol Crown Court
England cricketer Ben Stokes is at Bristol Crown Court for a third day, where he arrived with his wife Claire again.
Yesterday we heard from Andrew Cunningham, the doorman at the Mbargo club in Bristol close to where Stokes allegedly punched two men - Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale - knocking them out.
Mr Cunningham told the court he had denied Stokes entrance after the club closed at 2am, and that the cricketer had then mocked two gay men, William O’Connor and Kai Barry, and flicked a cigarette at them outside the club in the minutes before the brawl.
He also alleged that Stokes had described his tattoos as "s***".
We also heard from student Max Wilson who filmed the brawl, and who said it was like watching "football hooligans".
The six women and six men on the jury are being shown CCTV from the night as a police case officer identifies each person on screen.
The jury has been shown CCTV taken from outside the Lola Lo nightclub in Bristol which shows Ali and Hale, with bottles of beer in their hands, walking up the road with two gay men, Kai Barry and William O'Connor.
Ben Stokes and England teammate Alex Hales are seen catching up and overtaking them and then, the prosecution claim, Stokes can be seen turning to look back at Barry and Ali.
Detective constable Daniel Adams, the officer in the case, told the jury: "Ryan Ali and Kai Barry appear to be having a disagreement. Mr Barry grabs Mr Ali around the groin area."
The CCTV shows Barry walk away from Ali but then return.
DC Adams said: "Mr Barry appears to link arms with Mr Ali and is shrugged off and pushed away."
Further CCTV from the Be At One bar has been played to the court, which shows Ben Stokes and Alex Hales, his England team-mate, in shot.
A group of men, including Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, who also stand trial accused of affray, next come into view.
The camera later records the police and an ambulance arriving at the scene.
The jury were then shown CCTV taken from the nearby Natwest Bank.
Detective constable Daniel Adams, the officer in the case, tells the jury: "Alex Hales crosses the road towards the direction of Natwest in the direction of STA Travel.
"Ben Stokes is crossing the road from the same direction and meets Mr Hales. They are both looking back up Queen's Road in the direction of Be At One and Lola Lo. Ben Stokes is smoking."
The CCTV footage shows Mr Hales behind Stokes and Stokes approaching a retreating Ali, Detective Constable Adams says.
"From this point it is very difficult to identify who is involved," he says.
Hale is then shown collapsing to the floor outside a shop window but picking himself up after 20 seconds and disappearing from view and then returning.
"Ryan Hale returns with what appears to be a metal pole with a t-bar on it, as described by Lauren Sweeney," the officer says.
He told the jury that it was "very difficult to tell" from the footage what Hale was doing with the pole.
"He is making his way back towards the melee carrying the bar," he says.
Nicholas Corsellis, prosecuting, asks: "Do you see Ryan Hale put that implement down before he gets to the group?"
The case officer replies: "No."
Cameras belonging to Bristol City Council also captured some of the aftermath of the alleged incident with police officers and an ambulance arriving at the scene.
It shows it is Ryan Hale who places his t-shirt under the head of Ryan Ali, who is lying on the ground, while off-duty special constable Mark Spure, who was on a night out, arrives.
Meanwhile, Stokes has been arrested and is sitting in the rear of a police car.
His teammate Hales is with one of the attending police officers before making a telephone call and heading towards a taxi rank to get a taxi.
"Laughter in court", reports Sky News's Rebecca Williams, after the case officer, Daniel Adams, refers to Ben Stokes as just “Stokes”. His defence barrister replies: “Mr Stokes, but never mind”.
A police community support officer who was also in Mbargo club is now giving evidence.
He says he approached the group with the intention of stopping the fighting.
Mark Spure, an off-duty police community support officer for Avon and Somerset Police, was attending a colleague's leaving party on the night of the alleged fight and had been inside Mbargo.
He tells the jury he was walking down the pavement alone when he spotted "three to five" people involved in a "scuffle" in the road.
Mr Spure walked into the road and attempted to separate two of the men, with the others continuing their behaviour behind him.
"The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual," Mr Spure told the court.
"In my statement I describe him as a gentleman with ginger or light brown hair. He had a green t-shirt on."
He said the man Stokes was allegedly advancing towards, Ali, "seemed to be trying to back away or get away from the situation".
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