Arthur Collins trial: London Fields acid attack accused ‘took bottle from another clubgoer’, defence tells court
Arthur Collins. Picture: Met Police - Credit: PA
The man accused of throwing acid on clubbers at London Fields venue Mangle E8 had confiscated a bottle from another clubgoer in the run-up to the attack, his defence lawyer has claimed.
Mangle E8 is evacuated after the acid attack. Picture: Phie McKenzie/@PhieMcKenzie - Credit: Archant
Arthur Collins got into an altercation with Makai Brown after overhearing him talking about spiking drinks, it is alleged.
Mr Brown was later injured by the acid.
He told jurors he attended the club with his cousin Kwami Licorish, and two friends: Ruam Mota and a man called Alex.
Jurors have been shown footage of the night in which Mr Brown and a group of men walk through the club and down a set of stairs to an area where the defendants had previously gone.
George Carter-Stephenson QC, defending Collins, asked Mr Brown about a conversation he had with Mr Mota at the top of the stairs.
He said: “You were talking about spiking someone’s drink, at the top of the stairs, weren’t you?
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“One of you said: ‘No, you spike her, you do it’.”
Mr Brown, who played a soft drum roll on the witness box before stating his name at the start of giving evidence, replied: “Is this what we are going to do – talk about me spiking someone? Really?
“I am not going to answer it. I refuse to answer that question.”
When told by Judge Noel Lucas that he had to answer, Mr Brown said he had not had a conversation about spiking someone’s drink.
Mr Carter-Stephenson then asked if Collins, who had been standing at the bottom of the stairs, called Mr Brown a “dickhead”.
But Mr Brown denied any altercation taking place, or any aggression, stating the first time he saw Collins was on the news.
Collins’s case is that he told Mr Brown “you are dickheads, you are not spiking anyone” at which stage the complainant told him not to speak to him like that, and threatened to spike him.
Mr Carter-Stephenson then asked if Collins had taken a bottle from Mr Brown.
He continued: “A bottle which he thought contained something to spike drinks.”
Mr Brown denied having a bottle with him, saying he does not drink alcohol and had been searched on entry to the venue.
He also denied having a conversation with Collins and Phoenix, saying that if they had spoken, it would have only been to talk about girls or his trainers.
The trial continues at 10.15am tomorrow.
Court reporting by Press Association
