[T]WO friends have denied attacking a man who suffered serious injuries during a Christmas Day incident in Cockermouth town centre.
Neil Johnston, 43, and 30-year-old Kenny Stilgoe are on trial at Carlisle Crown Court. They deny causing Callum Marrs grievous bodily harm in Cockermouth’s Market Place during the early hours of December 25, 2016.
Jurors have heard that Mr Marrs’ injuries included multiple facial fractures and a bleed on the brain.
Today (FRI), Johnston and Stilgoe each told jurors while giving evidence from the witness box that they did not commit the alleged offence.
Johnston said he went to “confront” but “not attack” Mr Marrs after an earlier incident outside Cockermouth’s Globe Hotel. A fight, said Johnston, then ensued after Mr Marrs “rugby-tackled” him. Johnston admitted a fractured hand he suffered was caused by “punching Callum” but insisted he had acted only in self-defence.
“I didn’t want to hit the lad but I had no option,” said Johnston, of Lonsdale Close, Crosby Villa. “He was on top of me, punching me in the face.”
Meanwhile Stilgoe, of Firlands, Carlisle, claimed he merely watched that fight from inside his car. “I didn’t touch the man (Mr Marrs). I never went near him,” said Stilgoe. “I did not touch him once.”
The trial continues.
