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Barrister 'beat wedding guest senseless'

By Nigel Bunyan
Last Updated: 2:43am BST 14/08/2007

"Dunn then allegedly began waving his appendage about 'in the belief that it was amusing or causing entertainment.'"

A drunken barrister who was best man at a wedding exposed himself to the bridesmaids before launching a "savage" and "ferocious" attack on a fellow guest after being confronted over his behaviour, a court was told.

Christopher Dunn, 40, who had earlier given a "disgusting" best man’s speech at the country hotel reception so offended the women and children around him that David Baird-Dean felt compelled to drag him away by the scruff of the neck.

Mr Baird-Dean, who inadvertently burst the buttons on his adversary's dress shirt and waistcoat, initially warned the lawyer that his behaviour warranted police being called to the Harewood Hall Hotel, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire.

advertisementBut he relented when Dunn went back to the table and offered his fellow guests an abject apology, a jury at Preston Crown Court was told.

Hours later, when the disturbance appeared to have dissipated, the lawyer allegedly squared up to Mr Baird-Dean, ushered him away to a sun terrace, and then launched a "savage" and "ferocious" attack upon him.

Richard Haworth, prosecuting, said that Dunn initially knocked his victim to the ground with two blows to the head.

He then knelt on his chest, pinned his arms to his sides, and punched him so violently and so frequently in the face that he lost consciousness.

He was trying to land yet more punches on his victim even as fellow guests dragged him away.

Mr Baird-Dean suffered such severe injuries that surgeons had to use metal plates and screws to reattach his upper jaw and both eye sockets to his skull.

The force used was comparable to that suffered in a high-speed car crash or inflicted in an attack with a baseball bat, Mr Haworth said.

The court heard how on July 1 last year Dunn had been invited to be one of two best men at a ceremony to reaffirm the wedding vows of Rosalind and Russell Poole 10 years after they were married.

It was a beautiful summer's day, and as the afternoon buffet wore on he moved to an outside table where most of the bridesmaids were sitting.

The group, many of whom were drinking pink champagne, started to talk about tattoos.

One guest noticed that Dunn had a tattoo which was partly visible through his dress shirt, and asked whether it depicted a white rose.

Mr Haworth told the jury: "The defendant replied 'I’ll show you a white rose'. At which point he unzipped his trousers and pulled out his penis."

Dunn then allegedly began waving his appendage about "in the belief that it was amusing or causing entertainment."

He had misjudged his audience, said Mr Haworth. All the guests who witnessed his performance took offence and Mr Baird-Dean moved in to remonstrate with him.

The 48-year-old mechanic was a few feet away when he heard his wife and two of the adult bridesmaids suddenly complaining that Dunn had exposed himself.

"I turned around and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There were children at the table and I thought it was only right that I confront him about it.

"I moved quickly towards him and asked him to put it away. He didn’t react so I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

"I told him he was disgusting and that it was a wedding. I probably said quite a few other things. It just wasn’t something you would expect at a wedding, especially with him supposed to be the best man.

"He apologised to me, saying his child was ill, he'd had too much to drink, and that what he’d done wasn’t in his character.

"He said that because he was a barrister he couldn't bear the police being called.

"He asked whether if he apologised the police would not have to be called."

The guests duly accepted Dunn's apology and he and Mr Baird-Dean shook hands. However, as the evening wore on he began to boast to fellow guests about beating people up and "having scrapes with the law".

He claimed to have served with the SAS and on one occasion bitten a police dog while in Japan.

He became increasingly aggressive towards Mr Baird-Dean, blaming him for the fact that other guests were talking and laughing about him behind his back.

"He said he was going to get me later," Mr Baird-Dean told the jury.

"He said he was going to jump me."

When interviewed by police about the attack, Dunn claimed he had acted in self defence.

He had been "terrified" when Mr Baird-Dean began punching him, and responded by striking his assailant only four times.

Mr Haworth said the lawyer's account bore no resemblance to the Crown's case.

He alleged that he had sought to portray Mr Baird-Dean as the aggressor "because he realised the awful consequences of what he had done."

Dunn, of Morley, Leeds, denies a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

He has similarly pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.



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