Ben Stokes not guilty: England cricketer cleared of affray over nightclub brawl

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England cricketer Ben Stokes has been cleared of affray over a nightclub brawl that saw him knock a man unconscious.

The 27-year-old all-rounder punched Ryan Hale, 27, to the ground and then knocked out Ryan Ali, 28, during the fracas in the early hours of 25 September last year in Bristol city centre.

Mr Stokes said he was acting in self-defence when he punched the two friends hours after England played the West Indies in a one-day international in the city.

Following a seven-day trial, the jury at Bristol Crown Court took under three hours to acquit Mr Stokes and co-accused Mr Ali of affray.

The pair shook hands as they left the dock.

Mr Stokes’ wife Clare cried as the verdicts were returned while the cricketer closed his eyes with relief and then looked up.

After being acquitted, Mr Stokes thanked his wife, family, friends and teammates for their “unerring” support during “an 11-month ordeal”.

“In addition to the extreme stress placed on Ben and his family by the trial, his intervention that night has already cost Ben the England vice-captaincy, his place on an Ashes tour and his place on a number of other England matches,” Mr Stokes’s solicitor Paul Lunt said.

“The past 11 months have served to highlight to Ben just how highly he values his position as an England representative, both in terms of the privilege that role entails and the responsibilities that accompany it.

“Now that the trial is over, Ben is keen to get back to cricket being his sole focus,” Mr Lunt said.

Tony Miles, the solicitor for Mr Ali and Mr Hale, said: “Both our clients are delighted it’s all over. They just want to get on with their lives.”

Meanwhile, England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow said he hopes to see Stokes return to international duty soon following his acquittal.

He said: “Obviously I’m really happy that the verdict has come out as it has, for English cricket. It is big for him. It has been a long 10 months for him and his family.

“Those kind of ordeals are something that haven’t been taken lightly. I’m delighted and hopefully we can see him back in an England shirt very, very soon.”

Mr Stokes missed the second Test against India at Lords, but since the verdict, the England and Wales Cricket Board has added him to the squad for the third Test, beginning on Saturday.

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesperson said: “Now that the legal proceedings have concluded, the disciplinary process for Ben Stokes and Alex Hales can be scheduled by the Cricket Discipline Commission.

“Ben Stokes will now join the England squad for the third Specsavers Test against India, which starts at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

“We saw the impact he had at Edgbaston only a couple of weeks ago in the first Test match”.

During the six-day trial, the court heard Mr Stokes had “lost control” in “a sustained episode of significant violence”.

The prosecution said he was “drunk and enraged”, but Mr Stokes denied this and said he had “stepped in” to defend two gay men who were being subjected to verbal abuse.

The court heard how the night began with Mr Stokes and other England players, including James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett, Jake Ball and Alex Hales, taking taxis into Bristol city centre.

Mr Stokes had had “at least 10 drinks” in the hours before the incident, which included a bottle of beer, two or three pints of lager, five or six vodka and lemonades and some Jagerbombs.

He was accused of being “actually really very drunk”.

Meanwhile Mr Ali had drunk six or seven Jack Daniels and Cokes during his night out with Mr Hale.

Much of the incident and the buildup was captured on CCTV cameras located around the Clifton Triangle area – a popular nightspot in Bristol.

Mbargo doorman Andrew Cunningham, 37, alleged he was offered £300 by Mr Stokes to let him and Mr Hales back into the nightclub.

Mr Cunningham accused Mr Stokes of getting “verbally abusive”, saying the cricketer told him he had “s***t tattoos” and that his gold teeth made him look like a “c***”.

He said Mr Stokes was mimicking the mannerisms and voices of two gay men, William O’Connor and Kai Barry, outside the club but the cricketer insisted they were exchanging “banter” about his expensive white leather shoes.

Mr Stokes said he could not remember flicking his cigarette butt towards the gay men or directing a V-sign at Mr Cunningham.

The two cricketers left Mbargo and were looking for a casino when the violence erupted shortly after 2.30am in Queen’s Road.

Both Mr Stokes and Mr Ali claim they were acting in self-defence and blamed each other for being the aggressor.

Mr Stokes maintained he heard best friends Mr Ali and Mr Hale direct homophobic abuse at Mr O’Connor and Mr Barry – but was unable to say what those words were.

And when he intervened, telling the pair: “You shouldn’t be taking the piss because they are gay,” Mr Stokes said Mr Ali replied: “Shut the f*** up or I’ll bottle you.”

He described his co-accused as “aggressive and violent” towards himself, Mr Hales, Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor and denied he had “overexaggerated the exchange” in order to “justify his own violent behaviour”.

Mr Ali told jurors the England cricketer “was very angry and looking for someone to pick on” and said that deciding to use a bottle as a weapon would be a “difficult decision for me to take”.

“I would have to perceive a significant threat to do that. I can hear myself saying ‘move away’,” he said.

CCTV footage shows Mr Ali waving a bottle towards Mr Hales before delivering a glancing blow to the shoulder of Mr Barry.

“As soon as I see Mr Ali swing the bottle and physically hit them that’s when I took the decision to get involved,” Mr Stokes said.

“I was trying to stop Mr Ali doing damage to anybody with a glass bottle.”

Mr Stokes and Mr Ali tussled and fell to the floor and when the sportsman got back to his feet Mr Hale was standing in front of him.

“I felt under threat by these two and felt I had to do whatever it was to keep myself and others around me safe,” Mr Stokes told the court.

Mr Hales tries to grab Mr Stokes, repeatedly begging his teammate to stop, telling him “Stokes, Stokes, that’s enough”.

When asked if he had become “enraged” at any point during the incident, Mr Stokes replied that it was a “difficult question to answer”.

The 6ft 2in cricketer added: “I didn’t know they could be carrying more weapons on them.

“They could decide to attack me at any time if I was to turn my back on either of these two. At all times I felt under threat from these two.”

Mr Hales, who was interviewed under caution but never arrested in relation to the incident, was seen on the CCTV stamping and kicking Mr Ali in the head as he lay on the floor.

Witnesses described seeing a group of men acting like “football hooligans” and dialled 999.

Mr Stokes was arrested and asked why he punched Mr Ali. He told police: “Because he was abusing my two friends for being gay.”

Mr Ali, an emergency services worker, suffered a fractured eye socket while Mr Hale, a former soldier, was left with concussion.

Mr Stokes, of Stockton Road, Castle Eden, Durham, and Mr Ali, of Forest Road, Bristol, each denied a charge of affray. Mr Hale was found not guilty last week of affray by the jury on direction of the judge.

After the trial, Mr Barry and Mr O’Connor said Mr Stokes “didn't deserve being put through a trial”.

Speaking to ITV following Mr Stokes acquittal, the couple said they were “really thankful” for what he did.

The pair said Mr Stokes came to their aid after they were called “batty boys”- a homophobic slur.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: “We carried out a thorough independent investigation into the events of 25 September before passing a comprehensive file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service which subsequently made the decision to charge.

“Having reviewed the evidence, the jury has concluded the actions of the defendants did not amount to affray and we respect this decision.”

Additional reporting by agencies