An Irish footballer who stands accused, along with two other footballers, of attacking a nightclub bouncer were "just having the craic" and did nothing wrong, a London court heard today.
Wimbledon’s Republic of Ireland under-21 defender Des Byrne says he and his friends Chelsea stars John Terry and Jody Morris were "having a laugh" and had done nothing wrong.
They are accused of an attack on bouncer Trevor Thirlwall, 28, at the Wellington Club in Knightsbridge, central London, on January 4th in which Terry is alleged to have glassed the doorman in the face.
Byrne, 21, says he had been sitting at home after training when Morris rang to ask him out for a bite to eat.
Dublin-born Byrne said: "We decided to go down to London for a bit of a craic, to have a few drinks and enjoy ourselves.
He says he drank two vodka lime and lemonades at the basement bar. But he did not drink a B52 cocktail when it was ordered for him because he had tried it before.
Later, in his police statement Byrne said he had been drunk. He added: "We were just having a laugh, a bit of banter, jokes between the three of us, having a craic really."
Club manageress Sasha Keegan has told the court how she asked three players to be quieter, but Morris swore at her so she asked Mr Thirlwall to get them to leave the club.
Byrne says he felt there was no good reason why he and the other players should have been asked to leave the club.
Terry denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon. Byrne denies possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon and all three players deny affray.