Morning:
20°c
Johnny Depp has become, in his young middle age, like a star of the movies’ golden period
Secret deal hatched by News of the World to hush up details of phone-tapping was sealed in a tiny room at the Royal Courts of Justice
More...
Big Brother winner Nadia in court over pub attack
Last updated at 16:22pm on 01.09.06
Nadia: In court on assualt charges
Big Brother winner Nadia hit a man in a pub during a 'homophobic' altercation in which he called her George, a court heard today.
Nadia Almada, 29, is accused of common assault on Richard Oliver in the Garden Pub on Upper Street, Islington, north London, in January this year.
Mr Oliver, 25, told Highbury Magistrates' Court he had spotted the reality TV star in the pub whilst with his girlfriend, but when he approached her she told him her name was Georgia.
Mr Oliver said his bottom was pinched twice and on the second time he turned around to find Almada sitting behind him.
He told the court: "I said 'You did win Big Brother, your name is George'.
"I didn't mean any offence by it - my bottom had been pinched and I wasn't overly impressed by that fact."
He said Almada had "a bit of a hissy fit", accusing him of being homophobic, and then struck his face.
"Then I said 'Hang on a minute, you're a man, I can hit you back', and put my drink down," he said.
Mr Oliver, who has a previous conviction for actually bodily harm, said he was embarrassed and admitted that he was going to strike her back.
Almada then slapped him a second time before a bouncer came and broke up the altercation, he told magistrates.
Under cross-examination by Aki Achillea, representing Almada, Mr Oliver denied he had behaved in a "disgraceful and aggressive" manner.
He also denied saying the defendant looked and sounded like a "bloke".
"I've nothing against Nadia," he said. "She is a woman, she's a transsexual, she had an operation and she is a woman."
Almada, who appeared in court today wearing a red dress, claims she was acting in self-defence as Mr Oliver was being threatening and aggressive and verbally abusive.
The court heard from a police interview in February with the television star, in which she said she felt Mr Oliver was "very angry, very agitated" and was acting like a bully and being gender homophobic.
The case continues.
