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Two brothers have been cleared of a “drink-fuelled” attack on a company director after an argument over a Stringfellows dancer.
Surveyor Jack Burgess, 25, and 35-year-old Toby, a Monaco-based property developer and investor, were accused of subjecting their alleged victim to a “revenge” driven flurry of blows after all three were thrown out of the central London nightspot.
London's Southwark Crown Court heard one of the punches by the younger brother was so “devastating”, Paul Lewis was left “seriously injured”.
“I got a fractured eye socket, my face was extremely bruised, I remember I had 12 stitches coming from the inside of my mouth to the outside, and I broke both my incisor teeth,” he explained, holding his new dental bridge up to jurors.
But the public school educated defendants, both of whom were privately represented by Queen's Counsel, insisted he was the aggressor and they were merely defending themselves.
Those trying the case decided they were telling the truth and cleared the pair.
Jack Burgess, of Chaldon Road, Fulham, south-west London, was acquitted of one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm on March 6 this year, while his brother was found not guilty of assault by beating.
Peter Zinner, prosecuting, claimed the brothers' “drink-fuelled” attack had been driven by their need for “revenge” for being kicked out of the club.
The company boss, who had spent the day at the Institute of Directors, told the court the brothers then approached and subjected him to some “light pushing and aggression”.
He had no sooner started pushing back when bouncers spotted the confrontation and ejected all three.
“I don't remember anything else until I was lying in hospital with a serious amount of injuries,” he told the court.
But Mr Zinner said CCTV footage and eye-witness accounts showed Mr Lewis being pushed against the fence and hit repeatedly.
After Jack Burgess's initial “devastating” blow he was unable to defend himself, the barrister insisted.
Following several more punches, he slumped unconscious to the pavement.
The brothers, however, insisted they had done nothing wrong.
Jack Burgess, who called a string of character witnesses including his former housemaster, several business figures and England rugby star James Haskell, recalled how a “small, blonde Polish dancer” had approached and invited him to dance.
But shortly afterwards an agitated Mr Lewis strode over, called the dancer a “bitch”, and then abused him before landing up to four punches on his face.
His brother said he saw at least six blows.
The surveyor went on to tell jurors that after being ejected from the club he decided to land the first blow because he thought the company director might have a knife and feared for his own safety.
Toby Burgess said he had initially tried to act as peacemaker, but when trouble erupted once more he became involved to defend his brother and himself.
Reader views (3)
well done jack
- Peter Farnes, london
Is is not a crime for the CPS to waste millions of £££'s per year - Ian Blair's friendly contracts, G20 protests, corp credit card mis-use in the Met, Jean Charles De Menzies, House of Lord & MP's expenses, Mandelson mortage repayments - the list is endless...
- Scrappy-Doo, London
Sounds like they need a bigger playpen until they're grown up enough to be allowed out and behave like adults.
- Bob, Cheam
