England all-rounder Ben Stokes had a sigh of relief on Tuesday as he walked free from Bristol court. He has been found not guilty of affray following a fight outside a nightclub. The court acquitted the 27-year-old cricketer after he provided the evidence saying he acted in self-defence.
Stokes was accused of punching Ryan Hale, to the ground and knocking out Ryan Ali, during an alleged brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol in September last year.
As per the reports, Ali has also been cleared of the same charge while Hale was acquitted of the charge last Thursday on the directions of the judge, Peter Blair QC.
At the start of the trial the prosecution tried to amend the indictment and charge Stokes with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but this was rejected by the judge. And halfway through the trial, Stokes's legal team attempted to have the case against him dropped but this was also refused by the judge.
The English all-rounder said in his testimony last Friday he had a "significant memory blackout" but he was "absolutely not" an angry man who had lost all control.
Stokes said he intervened because 28-year-old Ali and his friend Hale had directed alleged homophobic abuse at gay men William O'Connor and Kai Barry as they walked away from Mbargo nightclub.
Since Stokes has now freed from the charges, he will be available for selection for the last two Tests against India. After playing a crucial role in England’s victory at Edgbaston but missed the 2nd game at Lord’s due to the trails.
However, it has to be seen whether he gets back in the team for the 3rd Test as the ECB announced had already announced a 13-member squad on Monday.