John Jones fell as Andrew Lee escorted him from Kaos nightclub in Southampton

Thomas Levin told a court that doorman Andrew Lee had not deliberately thrown John Jones to the ground.

He told the city crown court he was on the upper floor of KAOS nightclub in St Mary Street when he became aware of a commotion in the corridor but did not see how it started He said: “I turned to have a look. It was someone being walked out by a bouncer.

They came down the corridor towards me. I took a step to my right to let them pass. They were going at a fairly quick pace. It wasn’t running.

“The guy was in front and the bouncer behind. The guy was struggling a lot and he was knocking into people as they went along. He wasn’t smashing into them. He was nudging them.

“As they went past, it looked as though he stumbled and fell forward. That caused the bouncer to trip over him. The guy landed on his front and the bouncer landed on top of him.

“The person didn’t do anything, he just lay there as though he had been knocked out. The bouncer got to his feet, looked at the guy and went to get help. He came back with two other bouncers. They went to the guy on the floor and other people were crouched around.”

Under cross examination from defence lawyer Matthew Jewell, Mr Levin said of the fall: “It appeared to be an accident. It wasn’t a question of the bouncer deliberately taking him to the ground. It appeared to be a stumble and trip.”

Mr Levin was giving evidence at the trial of 31-year-old Lee, of Alcantara Crescent, Southampton, who denies causing grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm to John Jones, a student at Southampton Solent University, on February 26 last year.

Prosecutor William Mousley has alleged that Lee grabbed Mr Jones from behind and put his hands behind his neck to throw him out of the club after he had been arguing with his girlfriend Aslihan Konan. He described his actions as unnecessary and unreasonable and said the hold was dangerous.

Proceeding