Court told of drunken AM Mick Bates

MONTGOMERYSHIRE AM Mick Bates was "very, very, very intoxicated" and asked a barmaid "do you know who I am?" on the night he is accused of assaulting hospital staff and paramedics, a court heard yesterday.

The 63-year-old was refused alcohol and asked to leave Charleston's Steakhouse in Cardiff in the early hours of January 20, magistrates heard.

The court heard that Bates was then found lying face down at the bottom of the stairs.

Bates, of Llanfair Caereinion, near Welshpool, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates Court yesterday for the resumption of his trial. He denies three charges of common assault and three public order offences.

Giving evidence barmaid Giovanna Makris told District Judge Bodfan Jenkins, that Bates was a regular customer and gentleman, but on this occasion she asked him to leave.

She told the court: "Mr Bates is a gentleman, a charmer and a valued and regular customer. He always has the wine and a fillet steak.

Stumbling

"This night I was watching the restaurant for my auntie who owns it and it was about 1am or later that Mr Bates came in.

"Straightaway I could tell he was very, very, very intoxicated and he was stumbling about."

"He asked for a drink, a meal and then a drink again, but I told him that I was not serving him in the state he was in and he should leave for his own health.

"I asked him to leave and he said 'do you know who I am' and other such phrases. At this point I walked away into the kitchen hoping that his sober friend would take him away."

Miss Makris told the court the next she heard was that Bates was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the restaurant.

"I ran out and saw him lying on the floor, not moving, face down at the bottom of the stairs," she told the court.

"It was scary. I was shocked. I could see blood and within moments the ambulance and police were there."

The trial continues.

By Andrew Morris at Cardiff Magistrates Court