Queenstown bouncer Jonathan Dixon yesterday continued to deny he caused a Queenstown man to fall and crack his head on the concrete floor of a nightclub in the town last year.
Dixon (42), who has denied two charges relating to an incident in Subculture bar on January 21, is on trial in the Invercargill District Court before Judge Kevin Phillips and a jury of eight women and four men.
He faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard for the safety of others, and assaulting Thomas Ian Beatson.
On the first day of the trial on Wednesday he fired his lawyer and began representing himself. Mary-Jane Thomas appears for the Crown.
Seven Crown witnesses were heard on Wednesday and yesterday. Dixon was the only witness for the defence and completed his evidence yesterday.
No witnesses have told the court they saw Queenstown bar manager Jordan Kees Sinke fall to the floor, but several said they heard two loud ''cracks'' or ''thuds'' as his head hit the floor, and turned around to see Dixon standing near him or over him.
Mr Sinke received a fractured skull, bruising to his brain and blood on the brain and has continuing effects from the incident.
Dixon was at Subculture bar that night as a private citizen. He said he was ''playing with his phone'' about 2.30am when he heard someone making abusive comments.
In 2011 Dixon released CCTV footage on the internet of England rugby player Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, cavorting with an ex-girlfriend in the bar where Dixon was working at the time.
Yesterday, Dixon said it wasn't until he heard the man, whom he found out later was Mr Sinke, say ''Tindall'' that he realised the abuse was directed at him.
He said he tried to ignore the abuse but Mr Sinke ''threw a punch'' which landed on his right chest. He threw another punch which missed. Dixon pinned Mr Sinke's arms to his sides and stood on his foot because Mr Sinke tried to knee him in the groin.
''He kept telling me to let him go and I kept saying `are we cool? Are you cool?' He said he was, but I knew he wasn't. He was ... drunk - really hyped up and breathing heavily.''
Mr Sinke told him he was with friends who did not like him [Dixon] either.
Dixon said he let Mr Sinke go and turned to walk to another part of the bar. He then felt something on the back of his foot and turned to see Mr Sinke lying flat on the floor on his back, unconscious.
He tried to help him by checking his airways and breathing. With the help of a girl, he rolled Mr Sinke into the recovery position.
People were trying to move Mr Sinke, but Dixon said he knew Mr Sinke should not be moved in case of spinal injuries.
When he saw Mr Beatson, a friend of Mr Sinke's, reach for Mr Sinke's hand he thought he was going to try to move him, so he ''shoved him hard'' in the face, knocking Mr Beatson backwards.
After that, Dixon said he was ''punched and pushed and hit'' by people in the bar. Someone hit him in the head, probably with their knee, and he also had a drink thrown in his face or was spat at in the face.
A staff member told him he should leave, and he did.
Ms Thomas spent some time yesterday asking Dixon why he had turned his back on a man who was taunting him and who had already thrown a punch. A normal person's reaction would be to punch back, or push their aggressor away. Dixon denied he had done that.
He said 20 years of ''working the doors'' as a bouncer had taught him alcohol often caused people to do ''irrational things'' and it was usually better to ignore abuse.
Ms Thomas suggested Dixon could have put his hands on Mr Sinke's shoulders and walked him out the door. Dixon said he did not want to do that because he thought he might be attacked by Mr Sinke's friends.
Ms Thomas: ''But after you restrained him and turned away, he fell over and hit his head.''
Dixon: ''After I restrained him and released him and turned away, he fell over.''
Ms Thomas asked Dixon if he was sure he had not pushed or shoved Mr Sinke and caused him to fall.
''I am sure I didn't give him a shove or a punch or a push or a slap or a bite or anything,'' Dixon replied.
Police investigated Mr Sinke's injuries as a possible assault and appealed for witnesses. To Ms Thomas, Dixon said he had not seen the appeals and did not go to the police with information. He was spoken to by officers six days later.
He had not considered reporting to police he had been assaulted in the bar. The closing arguments and judge's summing up will take place this morning before the jury considers its verdicts.
