Preston North End defender Jordan Storey was accused of breaking a supporter’s tooth in a nightclub argument, a court has heard.
Storey, 27, is standing trial at Preston Crown Court accused of affray and causing actual bodily harm to 20-year-old Preston North End fan Tomas Whatmough in an incident in Popworld last year.
Opening the prosecution case, Lucy Worsley told the jury that case involved Storey “assaulting a young man on a night out in a Preston nightclub, causing mayhem and resulting in the loss of the defendant’s tooth”.
Read more: The Palace venue in Fives building has closed
She said the incident first involved a friend of Storey’s being in a verbal altercation with Mr Whatmough at around 2am on January 13 last year. According to the 20-year-old, he removed himself from the situation but was approached again while waiting at the bar.
He says he was then punched to the face by Storey, causing a fractured tooth. The following day, Mr Whatmough’s mother called the police to report her son had been assaulted.
CCTV footage shown to the court showed Storey standing near the bar speaking to one man while his friend speaks with Whatmough. Storey is then seen moving to Whatmough and, after leaning over him, he is seen to push him back before chaotic scenes involve various people being pushed around the room and another man appearing to throw punches at Whatmough.
After security staff enter the scene, Whatmough can be seen with a ripped shirt exposing his chest.
Giving evidence, Whatmough said he couldn’t remember many details of the conversation having drank beer and vodka beforehand. He said: “I was definitely drunk. I wouldn’t say I was sober but sober enough to remember the actions that happened on the night.”
He continued: “We’d been having a bit of an argument, I was telling him to leave me alone because I didn’t know who he was. After that, all I can remember is Jordan coming over towards me.
“He came over quite aggressively, he kind of towered over me. He were quite intimidating and that’s all I can remember really.”
Whatmough said Storey was “aggressive in the way he spoke” and that “I felt like I couldn’t get away, I was against the bar, I felt a bit cornered really”.
Challenged by Storey’s defence solicitor Mark Stephenson that Storey only pushed him and that the injuries were caused by punches from the other man, Mr Whatmough conceded he did not recall those secondary punches but insisted his version of events was accurate.
He said: “Jordan is a lot bigger than that lad. He’s a lot more capable of punching teeth, breaking bones. To me, that’s when I felt the most pain.”
Proceeding
Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines
