A MAN has been found guilty of unlawful wounding after smashing a glass in the face of another guest at a Stratford wedding reception.
Richard Brampton claimed the cuts were a result of him putting his hand up to protect himself when the other man swung at him with a glass.
But his version of events during the wedding reception at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford was rejected by a jury at Warwick Crown Court who found him guilty of unlawful wounding.
After the jury returned its verdict, Brampton, 35, of Edgeworth Close, Redditch – who had denied the charge – was granted bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared on him.
Prosecutor Lynette McClement handed the jury a photograph of victim Dean Walker showing a wound to his cheek, and one taken of Brampton’s hands when he was arrested minutes after the incident in June last year.
Miss McClement explained: “These events took place, rather unfortunately, at somebody’s wedding.
“It began as a very pleasant day. They had a lunch, and after that people began drinking, and some people drank to excess.
“One of those who drank to excess was Mr Walker, and he is, it seems, not a pleasant drunk.”
At around 7.30pm hotel staff decided not to serve Mr Walker with any more alcohol.
And by 10pm the staff were considering having him removed from the premises after people began complaining about comments he was making and that he had thrown drinks at them.
A staff member went into the foyer area where Mr Walker was ‘being unpleasant’ towards other guests, so he approached him and asked him to leave.
“Mr Walker was very, very drunk, and did not like being asked to leave. He began to lash out when people tried to take hold of him, and the staff member was struck to the face. It was all rather unpleasant.”
Miss McClement said both the brother of the bridegroom and the staff member then saw someone with dark brown hair and a goatee beard step forward and strike Mr Walker with a pint glass.
“That glass smashed, and the police found bits of it embedded in the disabled loo door. That shows how much force was used.” commented Miss McClement.
After the blow, Mr Walker fell forward with his face in his hands, bleeding heavily from ‘quite a nasty cut to his cheek,’ and his shirt was covered in blood.
The attacker walked away, and when police arrived they found Brampton, whose hands were covered in blood, walking down the road with his girlfriend.
He was asked if he had been involved in a fight, and replied: “Yes, he was annoying people, so I hit him.”
When he was first interviewed following his arrest, Brampton answered ‘no comment’ to all the officer’s questions.
But in a prepared statement the following month he said he and his partner had been in the foyer preparing to leave when he saw a man he knew as Dean staggering towards him with a glass in his hand.
“He took a swing at me. I put my hand up to protect my face, and sustained cuts to my hand.
“The next thing I recall is being punched to the back of the head and being dragged out of the hotel. At no stage did I have a glass in my hand,” he added.
But Miss McClement told the jury: “We say the cuts to his hand are a result of him smashing a glass into another man’s face.”
