'We had to fight for our own survival' Shrewsbury brawl trial is told
An RAF helicopter pilot accused of being involved in a fight with a group of army soldiers outside a pub told a court he was only acting in self-defence.
Flight Lieutenant Joshua Richardson told a jury he and three friends, also in the RAF, were fighting "for our own survival".
Richardson, 28; Luke Day, 26; Alex Robinson, 26, all of RAF Shawbury, and James Shrives, 26, of Lee-on-the-Solent, are all standing trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court accused of affray.
It comes after a disturbance broke out outside Montgomery's Tower in Lower Claremont Bank, Shrewsbury, on September 9 last year in a row over a lighter.
The four men had been out celebrating after completing their first solo helicopter flights that day, and were waiting for a taxi home when violence flared.
The jury were shown CCTV footage of the incident at court yesterday which had been specially enlarged by Richardson himself to give a better view of proceedings.
It showed he was punched in the head "seven or eight times" before being knocked to the floor and hitting his head on the kerb.
The CCTV also showed Richardson punching in retaliation.
But, giving evidence, he insisted he was only acting in self-defence – and added that he was fearful for himself and his friends' lives.
"I could lose my job," he said. "I have been working towards this goal for years and I would not do anything to risk that.
"Nothing we did would stop them, they just weren't having any of it. We had to defend ourselves, they just weren't stopping.
"It all happened so fast, all of a sudden we were just being attacked."
Mr Andrew Kerr, Richardson's solicitor, asked him: "Did you act excessively in the circumstances?"
"No," Richardson replied.
"I am deliberately trying not to continue the violence. It's only at the point where all attempts to defuse it have gone out of the window.
"They carried on hitting us, and we believed they would carry on hitting until the point one of us was dead or unconscious.
"These guys were like nothing I had ever seen before. We had to fight for our own survival.
"Our entire group were trying to extricate ourselves. There was no gesturing or one-upmanship. We were just 'OK, we will go home'."
The trial continues.
