Court told how bare-knuckle fighter was hacked by gang
A BARE-KNUCKLE fighter known as the King of the Gipsies was attacked by a gang wielding machetes, knives and other weapons in a dispute between members of the travelling community at a horse fair, a court heard yesterday.
Louis Welch, 40, originally from Darlington, suffered severe wounds to his arm and back - some of them so deep they exposed his muscle - when he was attacked near the beer tent at a harness racing event near Appleby, Cumbria, on May 25 last year.
Up to eight men were involved in the attack, a jury at Carlisle Crown Court was told, leaving Mr Welch with injuries that a St John Ambulance first-aider described as the most serious he had seen in 60 years' service.
Pamela Swailes, a regular visitor to the horse fair, said in a statement read to the court:
"I saw a man on the ground and three men stood over him.
"Then I saw a man carrying a machete and saw him strike the other man two or three times with it.
"The man tried to defend himself by covering himself up with his arms."
Replica fendi wholesale Kenneth Slack, another visitor, said he had heard a commotion before seeing a bloodstained machete in the back of a pick-up truck.
When he returned to his car, he said, there was blood smeared on it.
The jury heard that even though the attack happened in daylight and was witnessed by several members of the public, none of those responsible had been described well enough to be identified.
Alex Varey, 19, and George Miller, 18, were charged only after their fingerprints were found on two bloodstained machetes found at the scene.
Mr Varey and Mr Miller, both of Clare Road, Lancaster, have pleaded not guilty to wounding Mr Welch with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
Opening the case for the prosecution yesterday, barrister Michael Scholes said there was no doubt that Mr Welch - described as a prominent member of the travelling community - was hacked by the gang while attending the event known as "The Trotting" at Holme Farm, prior to the town's historic horse fair.
The only issue facing the jury, he said, was whether Mr Varey and Mr Miller had been among those responsible.
Mr Scholes said witnesses could provide "only the most general descriptions" of the attackers, all of whom fled from the scene while Mr Welch lay bleeding on the ground.
He said Mr Welch, who lives in Yarm, near Stockton, was unwilling to give police information about the attack, the identity of his attackers or possible motive.
It was only after police found Cartier Replica Watches two discarded machetes that the investigation led to Mr Varey and Mr Miller, he said. Both machetes were stained with Mr Welch's blood, he said, with Mr Miller's fingerprint on one and Mr Varey's on the other.
The jury heard that, after his arrest, Mr Varey said he could not have been involved in the 1.30pm attack because he and Mr Miller had been 55 miles away at a KFC restaurant, in Lancaster. Security camera footage showed that the pair were in the restaurant at about 3pm, but, Mr Scholes said, that proved nothing.
"It is the prosecution's case that these two men deliberately set up an alibi, " Mr Scholes said. "The reality is that wherever they may ha
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