Dad is cleared of nightclub glassing

Apr 24 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH businessman John Easdon was cleared of glassing a man in a nightclub by a jury yesterday.

Easdon (32), whose employment agency provides relief staff to schools and other workplaces, had been accused of assaulting Cameron Matthews and striking him on the head with a glass to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment, in Perth’s Bliss and Envy nightclub last May 30.

A jury made up of eight men and seven women found the charge not proven by a majority verdict at the conclusion of the four-day trial at Perth Sheriff Court.

Earlier father-of-two Easdon, of Carnegie Place, Perth, told the court he had been drinking beer with his friend Derek Stronagh before they decided to visit the club.

Admitting the pair were “fairly drunk” by the time they arrived, Easdon said he was almost immediately served at the crowded upstairs bar where Mr Matthews was standing.

He said he bought Mr Matthews a bottle of beer to show he meant no harm by skipping the queue.

Later, at the downstairs bar, Easdon again came across Mr Matthews and said he “jokingly” asked him if he was going to buy him a drink in return.

Easdon said Mr Matthews became annoyed and called over his friends Jason Hill and Callum Fletcher.

The three rugby players, who were part of a 20-strong party of pupils out celebrating the end of their exams, allegedly “surrounded” Easdon, saying things he was unable to hear, and he took the “split-second decision” to push Mr Fletcher in a bid to get away.

Asked directly by fiscal depute Janine Bates if he had glassed Mr Matthews, Easdon replied; “Not intentionally. I certainly didn’t.”

Ms Bates asked Easdon if he could have simply forgotten what happened, to which he replied, “Yes”.

The court heard that Easdon’s reaction, when later told by officers that a man had been taken to Ninewells with serious facial injuries, was: “Honestly, if it was me I swear to God I apologise. I didn’t intentionally hit anybody with anything.”

In court, he said he had been “devastated” to hear about Mr Matthews’ injuries.

Giving evidence, Mr Hill said Cameron Matthews had bumped into Easdon, who was holding a small glass suitable for measures.

“There was a discussion which then resulted in Cameron getting glassed in the face and myself and Callum Fletcher getting hit,” he said.

Mr Matthews said he did not hear clearly what was said in the build-up to the incident, and only heard Cameron say “sorry” repeatedly.

“He (Easdon) continued to stand in Cameron’s way and would not let him past,” said the witness.

“I was hit with a punch to my left jaw. My first reaction was anger but the bouncers escorted me and Fletcher off the premises before we could retaliate.”

Mr Hill said he saw Cameron as he was being taken away in an ambulance for an overnight stay in Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital.

Cross-examined by Easdon’s solicitor David Holmes, the witness denied his friend, who was unable to remember the incident, had been aggressive towards the accused.

Barman John Reid (20) told the court there had been several fights throughout the evening.

He said two males had been arguing about who should be served next at the busy bar.

“The first thing I saw going on was a glass getting put into someone’s face,” Mr Reid said.

“It landed on the side of his face round the eye.”

Sergeant Kerry McLeod from Tayside Police said he interviewed Easdon’s friend Derek Stronagh (32), who was with him at the club, at 4.10am on May 31.

According to Mr McLeod, Mr Stronagh allegedly told him: “I wanted to go straight up to the police station to get it sorted out, but John was reluctant to go.

“In the end we went to the station to try and sort it out.”

Easdon had no hand injuries when he went to the police station. None of the witnesses saw who glassed Mr Matthews and CCTV footage failed to show where the tumbler came from.

Easdon was found not guilty, by a majority of jurors, of a charge of assaulting Jason Hill and punching him on the face.

However, he was convicted, again by majority, of a charge of assaulting Callum Fletcher and punching him on the face.

Revealing that Easdon has three previous convictions for assault, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis fined him £250 and banned him from Bliss and Envy for a year.