JUDGE RAPS PUB OVER ATTACK ON US TOURIST

[Judi Lynn]

JUDGE RAPS PUB OVER ATTACK ON US TOURIST


10:30 - 02 September 2003

A Crown court judge has told the bosses of a quiet Cotswold pub to look at how they deal with drinkers after one drunken customer headbutted an American tourist.

Retired airman Edward Spelts, 61, needed eight stitches to his face after Graham Ponting attacked him in the bar of The Falcon Inn in Painswick. Gloucester Crown Court heard that the 36-year-old defendant from Brimscombe had drunk around eight pints of strong cider before launching an unprovoked attack on the American. (snip)

(snip) "The defendant started to make fun of him," he said.

"As Mr Spelt ordered a drink the defendant was heard to say, "So you're American then. How many Iraqis have you killed?'

"A veteran of the last Gulf War, Mr Spelt said that he had been in the airforce but that he was now retired.

"At this the defendant said, 'So you think you're effing hard then?', and headbutted him in the face." (snip/...)

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=111001&command=displayContent&sourceNode=111000&contentPK=6892403

[WillParkinson]

1. Fun place...

I'm going to have to go there on my next vacation. <Sarcasm>

[rjbcar27]

2. Drunken dickheads are the same throughout the world.

Gloucestershire is a beautiful county and I throughly recommend visiting.

[coralrf]

6. Another incident in a pub....

When I was a young man my father and I went into an Oxford Circus pub to have a pint. We were talking to some locals and a man came up to us and asked..."are you yanks?". My father said yes and he pointed to a TV in the back room and said we might want to have a look. We arrived just in time to see Buzz put his feet on the moon. There was a great chorus of cheers in that pub and my father and I got very buzzed without ever having to buy a drink.

England is a wonderful place and all Americans should visit her. I grew up an American in Europe and loved our yearly vacations in England, Ireland Scotland and Wales.

The current rage in the British is justified albeit that mans actions were not. And.........you might note that the British, in typical fashion, got right to prosecution and did so with out a bias against that American. Do you think that would happen here?

[oldshoe]

3. Why

is something this stupid posted on this site? Can we not leave this trivia alone and stick to something more substantive?

This new format here (copied from freeperland) is too time consuming with light-weight junk, page after page. Who has time for it?

[Stuckinthebush]

11. I have time for it

I have been here since the beginning of this board and find it to be much easier to navigate than Free Republic. Of course, your opinion on that matter is your opinion.

In regard to why such an article is posted, there are a number of reasons. The first is to illustrate how many in the world that were once our friends are now disgusted with America and Americans. The question this should invoke in all of us is, "Why?"

Clearly, those of us on this board would point to an arrogant administration that uses power for its own personal gain. The way that we return to years when many in the world respected and liked America is to work our butts off to get this administration out of office.

No, this type of piece is very, very important and not stupid at all.

[neuvocat]

14. Want to see how worldwide resentment has grown?

If its bad enough to attack a 61 year old man over then its worth posting. You don't have to read it if you think its trash.

[Spentastic]

4. If I was Mr Ponting

I would defend myself by saying that he had evidence (that he can't produce) that Mr Spelt had a hidden weapon. A hidden weapon which he was afraid he would use. So he attacked him in self defense and to keep the whole pub safe.

Mr Ponting is the type of nutter found the world over. He would have fought anyone for anything. Mr Spelt and his nationality / military history had little to do with this assault.

[FlashHarry]

5. See the Robert Carlyle character in Trainspotting for reference.

For that matter, see the pub in Trainspotting.

[coralrf]

7. Trainspotting is a movie....

it is not real. Nor is WWF, Star Wars, Cheers, Jurassic Park, Apocalypse Now or Mickey Mouse. Try going to a British pub...reality is a better way.

[Spentastic]

8. What's your point?

There are plenty of fights in pubs. I live in the U.K and I've seen many a headbutting.

[coralrf]

9. My point is that it is a movie....

and unfortunately the tendency to blur the line between celluloid fantasy and reality has metastasized to the U.K.

My point is that it is a movie..and only that. I have been in many pubs and have not seen anything like what that "movie" portrayed them to be.

[Spentastic]

10. No relevant

Movies such as trainspotting are based on books that reflect life. I'd be willing to bet that I've been in more British pubs than you have and I've seen fights in many of them. It's certainly not the norm but "pub fight" is pretty much part of the lexicon.

I'd concur with your general point about fantasy vs reality, but in this particular instance the comparison is valid.

[chenGOD]

15. Irvine Welsh has said that Begbie was based on real people

that he knew growing up in Scotland.

I was a barman in England a couple of years ago, and the pub I worked in was in Cornwall, quiet place. Saw many a fight in the 7 months I worked there.
Was a bartender in a club in Edmonton, Canada. Saw many a fight in the year and a half I worked there.

Fights happen in all bars and all places and the person who pointed out that the victim's nationality had little to do with the attack was completely correct. This could have happened if the vicitm was the assailant's next door neighbour.

[Tempest]

12. You obviously have never gone drinking with my brother

Watching the Robert Carlyle character was like watching my brother out drinking.

I can't count the number of times I've had to bail him out of jail, nor the number of times he's been in court for bar fights.

You should have been in Alaska during the height of the pipeline construction. Chilkoot Charley's in Anchorage was famous for the number of stabbings and riots on a nightly basis. And my brother was usually right in the middle of them.

[buckfush2]

13. there's a really nice british pub

at Disney World!

[Sideways]

16. I Had An Awful Experience In An English Pub

April last year my partner and our baby girl aged ten months (in a snuggly on my chest) went into a pub to get out of a horrible rain in London.

We ordered two pints and paid with a generous tip. We then went to sit at a table. ONLY then did the bar manager come up to us and say "Sorry babies aren't allowed here you'll have to sit outside."

Now WTF is wrong with this picture? The baby was clearly there in her snuggly and it was pouring outside but the staff let us order and pay for our drinks and THEN the manager decided to inform us that we would have to sit outside. Don't ya think the staff would have told us "babies not allowed" before we ordered? Especially since it was raining cats and dogs.

It stunk and I was very unimpressed with that pub and its management.

It left a very bitter taste in my mouth for Londons pubs.

[maggrwaggr]

18. your mistake was in tipping.

You don't tip in pubs. :)

[rocktivity]

19. I had a much pleasanter experience in an British pub with a baby

Not only was everyone friendly, there was a little girl girl about a year old who generously tried to offer me her bottle! I informed her that though I certainly appreciated her showing such hospitality towards a tourist, I was actually in the market for something stronger.


rocknation

[molok555]

17. Sounds similar to an incident here

in Sai Gon. About 2 months ago an American friend and I were having a few, when a drunk British guy came up to him and said "I have an American friend from Texas. George Bush. D'ya know 'im?" har har. Anyway, my friend (who's used to this by now) just said he wasn't in the mood to play and the guy left. An hour later, same guy comes up and starts talking shit about Iraq. My friend tells him to go complain to the 'poodle' Blair. Guy actually says that he didn't vote for Blair! My friend says good, 'cause he didn't vote for Bush either. Guy walks away. Leaves bar. Comes back an hour later. My friend and I are talking baseball. Now he gets right in my friend's face and starts saying how baseball's a girls sport and cricket is for men. My friend pushes him out of his face and it's on.

Happens every week overseas. Now.