Trio Jailed

Bristol City have been shocked by the news that three of their players have been jailed after an ugly brawl outside a city centre nightclub.

Wales international David Partridge, 27, was jailed for two months after admitting affray and causing actual bodily harm during the booze-fuelled fight in October last year.

His club team-mates Steve Brooker, 25, from Strathearn Drive, Bristol, and Bradley Orr, 23, of Portishead, were each jailed for 28 days after admitting their part in the affray.

The court heard the group were on a night out when violence flared as Partridge was thrown out of the Romeo Browns nightspot in Bristol city centre.

Prosecutor Robert Davies told Bristol Crown Court that Partridge "lost control" and charged at the club's doormen.

He became involved in a fight with the bouncers and his teammates became involved.

A fourth player, Scott Brown, 21, of Shannon Walk, Portishead, admitted a Section 4 Public Order Act offence and was ordered to do 100 hours of community punishment.

Partridge, of Lower Burlington, Portishead, was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to bystander Andrew Rowley, who he hit with a vicious uppercut.

Club captain Brooker was the League One team's leading goalscorer last season.

Orr, who was sent off earlier this week for headbutting a teammate in City's 3-1 win at Northampton, was ordered to pay £2,500 in defence costs.

Mr Davies said the group had arrived at the club at 11.45pm after a drinking session which had started almost eight hours earlier.

The prosecutor said Partridge was ejected after staggering into a woman, spilling drink over her.

Partridge "clearly became angry" at being thrown out and had to be held back by his friends.

Mr Davies said: "He seemed to have just lost control. He charged at the doormen who were outside the fire doors of the club. They wouldn't let him back in.

"Brooker got involved by throwing bottles hard at people in and around the doors. At one stage, he lifted a wheelie bin and threw that towards the bouncers."

Orr was also involved in attacking the door staff, the court heard.

At one stage, Partridge was knocked out after apparently head butting the nightclub doors.

Mr Davies said: "He made a further charge at the nightclub doors and appears, either deliberately or inadvertently, to have head butted those doors rather hard. As a result he was rendered unconscious."

Bystander Andrew Rowley went up to the prone Partridge to see how he was and was met with abuse from Brown.

When Partridge came round, Mr Rowley was talking to a police officer but the footballer "levered himself off the ground, ran towards him and delivered a hard upper cut to his chin".

The court heard CCTV footage of the incident showed frightened revellers "scurrying by" as they tried to avoid being caught up in the violence.

The court heard Partridge had withdrawn from the Wales squad for this weekend's Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic as a result of this case.

His barrister, Adam Vaitilingham, said the player - currently on loan at Leyton Orient - had shown "genuine remorse".

He said: "It has been a wake-up call to him as to his future conduct. He has pretty much given up drinking at all.

"He has certainly given up the kind of clubbing, going out drinking behaviour that characterised this night."

The court heard Partridge was kicked by the "heavy handed" bouncers at the club during the incident.

The Recorder of Bristol, Judge Tom Crowther QC told the group that there needed to be a deterrent element to the sentence.

He said: "My duty is to ensure that, where it is appropriate, there is seen by the public to be punishment."

He added that the group were, in many respects, "admirable young men" when they were not drinking.