Politician 'does not recall fall on stairs'

A Mid Wales politician has no recollection of anything that happened after he fell down a flight of stairs which left a colleague fearing he was dead, a court heard.

Mick Bates, 63, of Llanfair Caereinion, near Welshpool, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates Court yesterday. He is charged with three charges of common assault and three public order offences.

Craig Williams, a Conservative Cardiff councillor and a former Welshpool High School pupil, was with Bates on the night of the alleged incident.

Mr Williams told the court that the pair had met up in the evening and had gone to Charlestone's Steakhouse.

He said: "As we were leaving there was some jostling between Mick and another man and the next thing I saw was Mr Bates lying motionless on the bottom of the stairs."

Asked by Stuart Hutton, solicitor for Bates, whether he thought Bates had died, Mr Williams replied: "Yes."

Earlier in the trial the court heard how Bates allegedly punched a paramedic in the chest and then grabbed another by his wrists as they attempted to treat him for a head injury following the fall.

Carl Jones, a paramedic in Cardiff for the Welsh Ambulance Service, described how he and a colleague had attended Charleston's Steakhouse Restaurant in Caroline Street, in the early hours of January 20.

He told the court he found Bates on the stairwell of the restaurant, bleeding from a head wound.

Mr Jones told District Judge Bodfan Jenkins that Bates had become aggressive when his colleague, Darren Noble, tried to examine him on the stairs.

"He was abusive and somewhat aggressive, smelt strongly of intoxicants and showed a clear reluctance to co-operate with myself and Darren," said Mr Jones.

Mr Bates said yesterday that during the evening he had attended a business meeting at a restaurant where he had consumed three pints. He then went to a 50th birthday party where he had a pint of bitter and shared a bottle of wine.

Later in the evening he shared another bottle of wine and had a couple of Sambucas before he and Mr Williams attended the steakhouse.

The trial continues on December 8 and 9.