Ex-boxer David Haye has been cleared of assault after a judge found he had no case to answer.
The former world heavyweight champion, 41, was on trial accused of assaulting Nickesh Jhala at a comedy show at the Hammersmith Apollo in October last year. Mr Jhala alleged at Westminster Magistrates’ Court that Haye “grabbed him round the throat” and said “Say one more word and I will kill you".
But the trial collapsed after senior district judge Paul Goldspring, the Chief Magistrate for England and Wales, ruled there was no case to answer following the end of the prosecution case this afternoon.
In his ruling, Mr Goldspring said: “An unlawful assault is the unlawful application of force upon another. Not every touching of somebody is an unlawful application of force that is unlawful.
”We have had the benefit of hearing from the prosecution witnesses and we have had the benefit of watching the CCTV. The CCTV is a real-time recording of what happened. It may not be very clear, it may not be exactly able to see what happened - but that’s rather the point.”
He said it was not clear that the CCTV showed Haye did anything other than getting the complainant’s attention so he could speak to him.
Mr Goldspring added: “We have heard from all the witnesses, words were said. The truth is none of the witnesses in our view were consistent enough among themselves or sure enough in themselves of the words so that we could be sure.”
Speaking after the judgement, Haye told reporters he was “very happy, very pleased”. He said: “My legal team did an amazing job just explaining exactly what the CCTV footage showed and I’m just thankful the venue had CCTV. Without it, I would have been found guilty as I had four witnesses saying I did something that wasn’t on the CCTV footage."
Asked if he would be celebrating tonight with a few drinks, Haye said: “Yeah, don’t have to come back here tomorrow. On an upwards now and hopefully won’t be back here again.”
During the trial, Haye’s barrister James Scobie KC said Haye admitted approaching Mr Jhala after hearing derogatory comments made by him and his cousin, Vishal Vadher, who was in the next seat. Haye said he stepped over a seat and approached Mr Jhala after hearing a reference to his girlfriend being attracted to black men.
It was said Haye only put his hand on the man’s shoulder and denied making any threats to kill, saying he only threatened to have him thrown out.
Mr Jhala told the court he was at the theatre to see comedian Paul Chowdhry with his partner Nina Nagar and cousin Mr Vadher on the night of the alleged incident. It was said Mr Vadher, who described himself as a “big boxing fan”, immediately spotted Haye and told the court he greeted him but was rebuffed.
Mr Vadher told the court: “He looked at me in an aggressive way and said ‘Can you not see I’m talking?’ There was a couple on the right-hand side. They had seen it so they asked ‘Why was he so rude to you?’ In response to that I said ‘Dunno, maybe Tony Bellew stepped on his toe’.”
Mr Vadher was accused of saying that “Amir Khan would have agreed to a photo,” which he denied. In cross-examination, Mr Scobie said: “You were trying to rile him because, in your eyes, he had slighted you. So you continued, I suggest to needle him.”
Mr Vadher denied this, but admitted he had made the Tony Bellew comment. He said it was made with “no intent” and “just as a funny joke”.
Mr Vadher was also shown CCTV footage of the incident and admitted he could not be seen speaking to a couple to his right. Mr Jhala claimed that the alleged assault left him “shaking” throughout the second half of the performance and “traumatised”.
Mr Jhala denied making a comment that Haye’s girlfriends “must love the brothers,” which Mr Scobie said was a reference to Haye being black.
Mr Jhala replied: “Not true.”
