Murder accused tells trial he was 'in fear'

A pub-goer felt ridiculed by a group of people in a bar before he fatally punched a 66-year-old grandfather as a "pre-emptive strike", a murder trial has heard.

Nathan Gothard denies murder and an alternative count of manslaughter after David Darke died following a serious head injury sustained in a confrontation outside The Crown Inn, in Church Street, Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, on 21 December.

On Thursday, Gothard, 37, gave evidence at Leicester Crown Court, and said he "lashed" out at Darke and had been "in fear" of being attacked.

Answering questions from defence counsel Balraj Bhatia KC, Gothard said he interpreted an earlier exchange of words with Darke as a "threat to kill".

The court heard Gothard, of Church Street, Appleby Magna, arrived at The Crown Inn between 15:00 and 16:00 BST by himself on 21 December, where he said there was a "Christmas atmosphere".

Jurors heard later the same day, a group at a Christmas party - containing Darke - came into the pub. Gothard, "trying to be helpful", picked up stools to arrange seating, as he thought they would need more chairs due to the "volume of people", he said.

The defendant told the court he then engaged in "general chit chat" with the group, and offered to buy them a drink.

When the group declined, Gothard told jurors he went back to the bar and there were no further exchanges immediately after.

Gothard told the court he had his "back" to the group and felt like he was being "ridiculed".

"It just didn't feel right for some reason," he said.

"When I turned around, I would see them pointing and looking and laughing, so I just assumed it wasn't of a good nature."

He said Darke was "aggressive" towards him and grabbed his shoulder at the bar, and "threatened to bury me and put me in the ground".

Gothard said: "I replied to him that 'I didn't want any trouble, and he was older than my father', which he didn't like."

The defendant told the court the landlady asked him to leave The Crown Inn, adding: "I was a regular. Why should I have to leave the pub, when I have done nothing wrong? It felt unfair."

The defendant said that outside the pub, Darke was "berating" him and the group "weren't talking in a nice tone" to him.

Asked by defence barrister Bhatia why he did not go home, even though he lived a "stone's throw" from the pub, Gothard said it was "still early" and he wanted to go back into the bar.

Jurors were shown CCTV of a man called Ty Fern knocking Gothard to the ground and kicking him outside the pub.

Gothard told the jury he was "dazed and confused" after he was punched by Fern, which knocked his glasses off his head.

He said Darke then grabbed him "violently" as he stood up from the ground.

Gothard said Darke repeated that he would "bury him", adding: "It's a threat to kill, I had to take it seriously. I was in fear, wasn't I?

"After he had threatened me, he's walked quicker towards me to head me off.

"I have lashed out and hit him because I thought I was going to be attacked again. I threw a single punch. A pre-emptive strike to stop being assaulted again."

Asked if he thought he may have seriously injured Darke, Gothard said: "How he fell, yes. The sound."

In cross-examination, prosecutor Peter Joyce KC, asked: "Were you celebrating what you had just done to Mr Darke?"

Gothard said: "No sir, I was concerned about Mr Darke."

Joyce said Gothard made a woman inside the pub "very, very uncomfortable" by staring at her, which the defendant denied.

The barrister asked: "It was obvious to everyone there that you were making the whole group cross, wasn't it?"

Gothard replied: "Not that I recall sir, no."

The prosecutor told jurors on Tuesday that there was a "menacing, threatening, argumentative and disputing" atmosphere in the pub because of Gothard's behaviour.

The court also heard from the defendant's uncle Jeremy Gothard, who said he walked over to The Crown Inn at about 21:30 on 21 December.

Jeremy Gothard said when he was about 60 yards away, he could hear a "commotion", and told jurors when he got closer to the pub he could see a man acting "aggressively" towards his nephew.

He said he thought "something was wrong" when he saw Nathan Gothard was not wearing his glasses.

He told the court he grabbed his nephew and had persuaded him to go home with him when he said Darke moved towards Nathan Gothard.

When asked what Nathan Gothard did by the defence barrister, he said his nephew "struck out".

"I think he struck out in self-defence," he added.

The trial continues.

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