A MAN who sparked a wild all-in brawl inside and out of Hamilton Station Hotel after he suddenly king-hit another man playing pool, knocking him out for more than three minutes, told police he punched the man because he was poked in the eye with the pool cue.
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William John Richards, better known as Billy Bowles, has pleaded guilty to affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm stemming from the king-hit and subsequent chaotic melee, which involved more than 15 people, at the Beaumont Street pub in the early hours of August 29 last year.
Bowles was on parole for his role in a 2012 aggravated break and enter in which a man was shot when he and some friends went to the Islington hotel, court documents state.
The victim was playing pool with some friends when Bowles suddenly struck him to the head, knocking him unconscious.
Bowles then adopted a “boxer’s stance” and began throwing punches at anyone who came to the man’s aid.
The brawl spilled out onto the street, where security guards went to intervene, but were significantly outnumbered, police facts state.
Bowles was then involved in a number of fights, captured on CCTV, where he punched, kicked and kneed a number of different people.
“Despite numerous breaks in fighting and ample opportunity to remove himself from the situation, [Bowles] failed to do so,” a statement of police facts states.
“On a number of occasions [Bowles] runs in assaulting persons without provocation.”
The victim who was initially king-hit told police he had no recollection of being assaulted. But one of his friends said he felt his leg break as he was being repeatedly stomped and kicked by two men outside of the hotel.
He said he was helped to his feet, but king-hit again to the ground where he was repeatedly kicked and punched.
Another man told police he watched as his friend was king-hit by Bowles at the pool table.
He said his friend didn’t see the punch coming.
He went to his aid but was punched in the head. “[His friend] would not answer me when I was calling his name,” the victim said. “I was really worried so I even recall checking for his pulse.”
Bowles fled the hotel before police arrived and remained on the run for more than two months before he was finally arrested.
The 27-year-old, who remains in custody, will be sentenced in November.
