Ben Stokes cleared of affray after brawl outside Bristol club

The England cricketer Ben Stokes tilted his head back and shut his eyes in a restrained display of relief after being found not guilty of affray following a late-night street brawl in Bristol last September.

Immediately after the verdict was read out, Stokes leaned across the dock to shake hands with his co-defendant, Ryan Ali, who was found not guilty of the same charge. A jury of six men and six women listened to about 30 hours of testimony and submissions during six days of evidence, returning a unanimous verdict after just two-and-a-half hours of deliberations.

Stokes squeezed the waist of his wife, Clare Ratcliffe, who wiped away tears, as the pair left courtroom 1 at Bristol crown court for the final time, after what the sportsman described as an 11-month ordeal. The atmosphere was one of measured celebration as Ali also shook hands with Ratcliffe and Stokes’ agent, Neil Fairbrother, a former cricketer himself.

The lawyer Paul Lunt read a statement on behalf of Stokes on the street outside the court as the 27-year-old stood in the background, stony faced, refusing to answer questions posed to him by TV reporters and offering no apology for the incident.

“The jury’s decision that Ben is not guilty fairly reflects the truth of what happened in Bristol that night,” Lunt said, “This has been a very difficult period for Ben. He’s had to maintain his silence at times when many on social media and certain parts of the press predetermined his guilt long before the trial began. Now that the trial is over, Ben is keen to get back to cricket being his sole focus.”

Stokes lost his England vice-captaincy and a place on an Ashes tour after footage of the fight, which left two men unconscious, was published by a newspaper website in the aftermath of his arrest. He has now been reinstated to the England squad and is free to play in the third Test against India, which begins at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground on Saturday.

But it can be revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service was criticised after making a belated and unsuccessful attempt to have the charge faced by Stokes upgraded. On the first day of the trial, which began last Monday, the prosecutor, Nicholas Corsellis, requested permission to add two counts of assault to the indictment. But the judge, Peter Blair QC, the Recorder of Bristol, rejected the application. He said if the new charges had been added in February, it was “hard to see how the defence could have objected”, but that Stokes’ legal team had prepared for a trial on an affray charge and should not be ambushed with a last-minute change.

The CPS were also criticised for not prosecuting Stokes’ teammate Alex Hales, who can be seen on CCTV kicking the Afghanistan veteran Ryan Hale in the head while he lay on the floor injured. Hales was questioned under caution but never arrested. With the jury absent, Stephen Mooney, representing Hale, told the judge: “I struggle to understand how the Crown, in adopting the stance they have, have come to the conclusion that overt acts of direct violence used by an individual to someone on the floor is not worthy of prosecution.”

Stokes was arrested in the early hours of 25 September last year after a night out with England teammates to celebrate victory over the West Indies in an international match earlier in the day. He had been identified by an off-duty police officer as the “main aggressor” in a fight which left the firefighter and former nightclub bouncer Ali with a broken eye socket and blood pouring from his face.

Bristol crown court heard the incident described as “a sustained episode of significant violence” from Stokes, who had “lost control”. But Stokes’ defence remained unchanged throughout. He told the jury he had “stepped in” to defend two gay men who were being verbally abused, but then had to defend himself from Ali, 28, and Hale, 27, who were threatening violence. Ali was wielding a beer bottle held upside down by its stem, he said.

William O’Connor and Kai Barry, a gay couple from Bristol, who Stokes described as “camp”, did not give evidence to the trial but on Tuesday spoke in defence of the Durham cricketer.

Barry said that the incident had begun because “someone came across the road and tried to hit me with a bottle”.

O’Connor told ITV news: “Stokes could see the people doing what they were doing, and how homophobic they were and how nasty they came across.”

Barry added: “I thought he was just a normal lad, you know, sticking up for someone who was weaker than he was, which was quite nice. When I realised who he was, I thought fair play, because he’s obviously put his career at risk for someone that he never knew.”

O’Connor added: “We are really thankful for what he has done because Kai could have been left with a scar.”

The jury heard Stokes had no recollection of hitting Ali and could not remember what was said during the alleged homophobic abuse. He had denied being drunk, but told the jury he had had three to four beers, six vodka and lemonades and “a few Jägerbombs”.

An Avon and Somerset police spokesman said: “We carried out a thorough independent investigation into the events of 25 September before passing a comprehensive file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS], which subsequently made the decision to charge.

“Having reviewed the evidence, the jury has concluded the actions of the defendants did not amount to affray and we respect this decision.”