A man was stamped on as he lay prone on the floor when a brawl erupted at the Adelphi Hotel.
Ethan Wenton initially acted as peacemaker during the dispute, which involved his girlfriend and a group of men, before brutally lashing out at his stricken victim. He then coughed and spat at police officers after being arrested over the early hours incident.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard today that the fighting broke out in the entrance to the Liverpool city centre hotel at around 2.30am on March 11 this year. CCTV footage showed punches being thrown before the altercation continued outside, with at least half a dozen people becoming involved in the brawl.
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Thomas Quirk, prosecuting, described how one man was seen to fall to the floor, at which point Wenton, of Petworth Close in Speke, stamped down on him twice to his upper body. He then pursued the man down the street with his partner before the 23-year-old aimed another kick at him.
Merseyside Police attended the scene, and Wenton was located and arrested. He began coughing and spitting once taken into the back of a police van, falsely claiming that he had covid.
As he was being taken out of the vehicle at St Anne Street Police Station, he then coughed in the face of one officer. Wenton, who has one previous conviction for failing to provide a specimen for analysis in 2020, began using racial slurs once inside the custody suite before spitting at another PC and kicking out at a third.
Helen Dugdale, defending, told the court that her client had suffered with mental health issues and added: “With regards to the beginning of this matter, Mr Wenton was not the perpetrator. There is some kind of shouting and bickering occurring, but it is with the female and the other males.
“Mr Wenton tries to effectively stop matters and take her away from the situation. That did not happen. We obviously see what we see on the CCTV footage. The female who was the catalyst and, you may feel, was equally as culpable as Mr Wenton was dealt with by way of a caution.”
Wenton admitted affray and three counts of assaulting an emergency services worker during an earlier hearing. He was due to be sentenced on Wednesday, but his case was sent up to the crown court due to the seriousness of his offending.
The defendant will now appear in front of a judge on January 24, and was released on unconditional bail until that date. Adjourning the case, magistrates panel chairman Sean McGuinness said: “We do not feel, given the quite nasty assaults that followed on the officers, that our sentencing powers are sufficient.”
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William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
