"It was a crazy whirlwind and 14 seconds of madness" says PNE footballer Jordan Storey on trial for assault

What he got was a drunken bust-up with a mickey-taking fan and a three-day trial for assault.

Today (Thursday) the Preston defender will learn if he is to be handed a criminal record for losing his cool with a boozed up North End supporter who had been “pestering” him and taking photos in a busy city centre bar.

The jury in Storey’s trial was sent out late yesterday (Wednesday) and is expected to return its verdict today.

Before retiring to consider whether the 27-year-old is guilty on charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and affray in Preston’s Popworld night club, the panel of nine women and three men were told to carefully watch CCTV footage of the incident before making a decision.

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Storey’s defence barrister claimed the pictures did not show him throwing a punch which knocked out a front tooth of clubgoer Thomas Whatmough. In fact, he suggested, the film showed him simply pushing him away – only for another man to hit him with a "ferocious" blow in the face.

The North End star claimed in his evidence that Whatmough had been threatening to head-butt him and he had reacted in self-defence. The force he used was, he claimed, reasonable in the circumstances.

His lawyer Mark Stephenson told the jury his client was a professional athlete "but he is entitled to go out for a drink without people videoing him and taking pictures of him. And he is entitled not to be threatened.”

Storey has pleaded not guilty to both charges. The court was told he was a man of “good character” with no previous court appearances.

He had been out with three friends in Preston city centre on the night the confrontation happened at around 2:15am.

It was claimed Whatmough had been filming Storey and two of the footballer’s friends went over the ask him to “stop taking photos, stop pestering him because he is a footballer, leave him alone”. They said he just wanted a peaceful night out.

But one of the friends went back to Storey and told him Whatmough had said he was going to head-butt him.

When that claim was put to Whatmough he denied it and said: “I have never threatened anyone. It’s not in my nature.”

And he added: “We are talking about a professional athlete who probably trains every day who is a lot more forceful than someone like me.”

In a prepared statement Storey told police he “categorially rejected” the allegation he punched Whatmough. He said he had been told by one of the men with him that he was threatening to head-butt him and so he approached him at the bar to try and defuse the situation.

“The conversation got confrontational and I got scared for my safety. I grabbed him and pushed him back. It was self-defence. The force used was reasonable in the circumstances – in an act of self-defence.”

In the witness box Storey told the jury he had gone over to him to calm the situation down and not aggressively. But when he told Whatmough “you don’t want to head-butt me”, he replied “do you want to bet?”

Asked what Whatmough was like with him, he said: “He was sort of cocky. Because of the job I do he felt he could take the mick.”

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CCTV footage played in court was of poor quality, but it did show the initial confrontation where Storey was having a conversation with Whatmough at the bar before he moved his head towards the 20-year-old and then pushed him away.

Storey claimed he had got closer to Whatmough because he wanted to reduce the chances of a full head-butt which could have broken his nose.

After the brief flare-up Whatmough ended up with injuries to his mouth and a torn T-shirt. Storey admitted he could have torn his shirt, but denied categorically he had punched him in the mouth. A split second later CCTV showed an unnamed man in a dark T-shirt hit Whatmough with such force that his head was rocked back.

Whatmough said he did not remember being hit other than by Storey. Both men admitted they were “drunk” after a night out with friends.

When asked why things had flared up the footballer said it had all been a “crazy whirlwind” and “14 seconds of madness”.

In the closing statements prosecuting counsel Lisa Worsley told the jury that at 6ft 2ins tall Storey was “towering above” the more slightly built Whatmough and so the force he used was “clearly unreasonable”.

Defence barrister Mark Stephenson urged the jurors to watch the CCTV footage carefully and, in his view, they would see Storey had not thrown a punch. The injury to Whatmough’s mouth was caused, he said, by the man in the black T-shirt.

He described the injured man as “an ardent Preston fan”. But when asked to stop filming the footballer it was claimed he said he was going to head-butt him.

After Storey had pushed him away he said the man in the black T-shirt was on film launching "a ferocious punch” on Whatmough. “It was one heck of a punch because it jolts his head back and it was followed by a second punch,” he said.

Mr Stephenson stressed: “There was no punch (from Storey), but there was a push. You can see clearly (on CCTV) it’s a push. He (Storey) accepts he grabbed hold of him by the T-shirt.

“Try as best you can (on the film) to see if you can find a punch. But I can’t find any punch. What happened (after that) had nothing to do with Jordan Storey.”

The lawyer told the jury his client was “quietly spoken” and had never been in trouble before.

In his summing up Preston’s most senior Judge Robert Altham told the jury that on the first charge of assault causing actual bodily harm they could only bring a guilty verdict if they were sure Storey had thrown the punch which damaged Whatmough’s mouth.

The other two verdicts they could bring on that charge were either not guilty, or not guilty of actual bodily harm but guilty of common assault.

Proceeding...