A lawyer and a banker walk into a Vault bar...[Insert punchline here].
An Eversheds Sutherland solicitor has appeared in court accused of fracturing a banker's jaw on a night out, after allegedly being subjected to gay slurs.
Barney Gush, a property disputes solicitor at Eversheds, has pleaded not guilty to one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm against an investment banker, Jonathan Luke.
The incident occurred in September 2021, when Luke was on his company's end-of-summer night out. He told the Inner London Crown Court that he'd consumed "two or three" beers, "one or two" glasses of wine and a shot at the event's "free bar" at The Happenstance, St Paul's.
Luke then went with a group to the Ned, near the Bank of England, where they drunk cocktails at the members-only basement Vault bar. He told the court he was nothing more than "reasonably tipsy."
"I was with colleagues and having a nice time and I remember feeling this punch at the bottom of my jaw from the right. It felt like a big, sudden impact, a shock," Luke told the court. "I was not braced for any impact and it was very sore. I felt a bit of a hole in my mouth and it was where the jaw had displaced."
Luke said he hoped he could sleep it off, but went to A&E in the morning. "I could not swallow and two metal plates were put in to crack the lower jaw back into place," he said.
Prosecutor Lewis MacDonald dismissed Gush's argument of self-defence, as he told the jury that Luke "did not commit any act of violence" and "nothing justified the defendant punching him in the face with such force," according to a report in The Daily Mail.
The prosecutor added: "Witnesses describe them on the dance floor squaring-up and Mr Gush punching Mr Luke in the face and is heard shouting: 'Let's take this outside,' or: 'Let's have a fight'."
Aisling Byrnes, defending Gush, said that Luke was "very drunk" that evening and suggested that he was wandering from group to group, and "making a little bit of a nuisance" of himself on the dance floor.
Gush claims that the banker shouted the gay slur: "F*** off you little p***," due to his flamboyant dancing at the bar. Luke denies making the homophobic slur.
Byrnes said that while it is not disputed that Gush hit Luke, the banker had "made physical contact" with Gush while he was dancing. "He and his friend moved away and you backed into him harder than before while he was dancing," Byrnes put it to Luke.
According to Gush, he asked Luke why he kept bumping into him and told him to leave him alone. But Luke insisted: "I didn't really bump into anyone."
Gush claims he struck out in self-defence after the banker moved towards him with his right arm and shoulder at Gush's "neck and chest height". However, Luke denies Gush's account of events.
The punch resulted in Luke having blood on his chin and shirt. Security staff intervened and called the police, who arrested Gush.
The trial continues.
UPDATE 18 September 2023 – An Eversheds Sutherland spokesperson told RollOnFriday that the trial ended on Friday 8 September 2023 and “Barney was found not guilty by a unanimous jury verdict”.
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Comments
28
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drunk or drank?
31
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Someone called "Barney" gets involved in a fight in a bar?
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Sorry but as a gay man the only people I know who call someone poof are other gay men. Usually when rejecting my offer to buy a drink or commenting of someone being flamboyantly annoying. I was atleast expecting a bundle of sticks or raising of garments insult. Neither of which would be sufficient to justify attacking someone either, but atleast they have some venom behind them.
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Classic disputes lawyer. No understanding of the law, but that doesn't stop the aggression...
62
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Club full of bellends in 'Full Of Bellends' shocker. All amazed.
Sport on page 5.
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I'm straight so I might be missing something but I've never understood why a straight man would be insulted by being called gay. It seems to me it's as homophobic to take the appellation as a slur as it is to use it as a slur.
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Young men and alcohol...
41
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In non-legal circles I believe an incident like this would be referred to as 'handbags'
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Toby Greenlord - property of a lady 08 September 23 10:43
"I'm straight so I might be missing something but I've never understood why a straight man would be insulted by being called gay. It seems to me it's as homophobic to take the appellation as a slur as it is to use it as a slur."
Good point. But, this kind of insult undermines a man's masculinity (or his ego). Yes, you could take the approach you suggested, but I wouldn't blame another man for not tolerating that kind of disrespect. (I don't necessarily mean it warrants a dislocated jaw, though).
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Real Estates Disputes? Just drop the "estates" and all good.
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A straight white man 08 September 23 14:23
this kind of insult undermines a man's masculinity (or his ego)
Then you're missing the point entirely.
The only person whose masculinity or ego could be undermined by being called gay is someone who thinks there is something inferior about being gay.
To me it might be inaccurate but it is certainly not insulting.
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"this kind of insult undermines a man's masculinity"
Are you suggesting that homosexuals are somehow not masculine?
23
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Yet another story of so-called professionals who can't handle their drink.
Yobs in suits.
Yet another indicator of the British disease of binge-drinking rather than being civilised and going for a sit-down meal with wine.
OTOH, they could have just taken the train home and had dinner.
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Maybe in the minority here, but the real story is how a 2PQE at Eversheds can afford to go to the Ned, nevermind a member's only bar.
30
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I think it's all gone over his head. Similarly when someone tries to insult a man by calling addressing him as if he's a woman, it all falls a bit flat nowadays.
I know a lot of bright, brave, accomplished, interesting and sexy women. Why would I be remotely bothered if I was compared to one of them. My only issue would be that in come cases or fields I might be found the lesser.
It appears that being wokey wokey woke woke makes one more resilient, not less.
19
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"Similarly when someone tries to insult a man by calling addressing him as if he's a woman, it all falls a bit flat nowadays."
Yes, that's right. The Woke crowd are notoriously relaxed about you addressing people with whatever pronouns you like.
Call 'em men, women, however you please. They won't bat an eyelid because they think it's such a non issue and don't understand how anyone could take offence over gender dependent modes of address.
That's reality and you can take 09:00 very seriously here.
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Handbags
40
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Why is everyone assuming the lawyer is straight and threw a punch because he was offended by being called gay?
I read it as though he could actually be gay, was being subjected to homophobic slurs because a banker didn’t like the way he was dancing, and stood up for himself.
Lots of facts missing here, so it’s a bit tacky that this has article been posted IMO.
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A straight white man 08 September 23 14:23
Good point. But, this kind of insult undermines a man's masculinity (or his ego). Yes, you could take the approach you suggested, but I wouldn't blame another man for not tolerating that kind of disrespect. (I don't necessarily mean it warrants a dislocated jaw, though).
Thank heavens we have “a straight white man” to explain homophobia to us all. Exactly the perspective we were missing.
Seriously though, I’m amazed that some people in this community are so uneducated on homophobia.
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A straight white man 08 September 23 14:23
Good point. But, this kind of insult undermines a man's masculinity (or his ego). Yes, you could take the approach you suggested, but I wouldn't blame another man for not tolerating that kind of disrespect. (I don't necessarily mean it warrants a dislocated jaw, though).
I am delighted by the pure idiocy of this reply. It's like distilled essence of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Can you explain what you think "the approach" suggested actually is?
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According to RoF's (no doubt highly accurate) "Inside Info", an NQ at Eversheds earns £72,000 while a 2PQE is on £68,500. It sounds like the sort of place where it doesn't pay to hang around.
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"Are you suggesting that homosexuals are somehow not masculine?"
Typically less masculine, yes.
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Knew the guy from a previous firm - he is gay and this is so far out of his character that I can only assume he had a very good reason.
Where's the update on the verdict RoF?
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Anonamous 12 September 23 14:11
Typically less masculine, yes.
Dip him in honey and throw him to the bears!
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Typically less masculine, yes.
What, like Zachary Quinto and Luke Evans you mean?
How many windows did you lick today?
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"so far out of his character that I can only assume he had a very good reason"
Yes, good reasons, you just have to follow your nose to come to that conclusion.
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Anonamous 12 September 23 14:11
Typically less masculine, yes.
You wanna watch out for your homophobic misconceptions or one day you might meet a gay man so lacking in masculinity that he breaks your jaw.
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Ah, impotent raging on an internet forum. Hallmark of the masculine man.
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You wanna watch out for your homophobic misconceptions or one day you might meet a gay man so lacking in masculinity that he breaks your jaw.
It's like orcas in the Mediterranean. We knew they could be dangerous but we thought they were cuddly to us and just nasty to the other fish. All of a sudden they've started fighting back and it's not fair.