Traffic warden 'battered unconscious with glass and helmet' at wake of soldier killed in Iraq

Captain Robert Moseley witnessed the beating outside a pub in Battersea after attending the funeral of 21-year-old Lance Corporal James Cartwright, who died in June last year.

Capt Moseley, who was in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment with L-Cpl Cartwright, told how he saw Syed Jawad Hyder, 38, being attacked by Lee Jones, a cousin of the deceased.

Mr Hyder was battered around the head and body with a motorcycle helmet and had a glass smashed in his face, Kingston Crown Court heard. 

Accused: Lee Jones (right)  is on trial for allegedly beating up traffic warden Syed Jawad Hyder at the funeral of Lance Corporal James Cartwright (left)

Capt Moseley said: 'We had attended the funeral and from the cemetery we walked down towards James' local pub, the Gardener's Arms.

'As we were walking down we could see some sort of scuffle going on.'

He told the jury he saw the victim stagger backwards out of the pub and across the road, then hit the side of a parked red car and slump to the ground.

'At some point I saw a young lad, about 20 years old who I had seen earlier in the cemetery, run from the area of the pub carrying a bike helmet.

'He then proceeded to lift his helmet up and bring it down two or three times. I could not see if it made any contact with the man on the ground but in my view, he was hitting him.'

The scene where traffic warden was beaten with a helmet after the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq

Jones, 23, ran off and was seen minutes later driving away on his moped, followed on foot by his half-brother Steven Pratley, the court heard.

Mr Hyder, who was beaten unconscious and spent two days in hospital, had been on patrol outside the Gardener's Arms when he noticed a car parked on yellow lines.

Kate Blumgart, prosecuting, said: 'He asked the crowd outside the pub whose this car was. The owner made him aware that this was a wake and he should not give him a ticket.

'Pratley then approached the victim saying, 'I'm going to hit you with this glass' and struck the man.'

His brother then ran over and attacked the warden with a motorcycle helmet, the jury was told. Pratley and Jones, both of Tooting, deny causing actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.

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