Bugzy Malone found not guilty in 2018 assault case

Bugzy Malone has been found not guilty of two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm stemming from an incident that took place in September 2018.

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The rapper (real name Aaron Davies) was cleared yesterday (September 14) of unlawfully punching two men, whose jaws he broke after his partner had told him that three men were breaking into their home in Ramsbottom, Bury.

He told Manchester Crown Court this week that his then-girlfriend and his mother were in the house at the time of the incident, and that his neighbour, builder Paul Potter, had also called him to say that his home was “being done over”.

The ‘M.E.N’ rapper said: “You know you are going into a volatile situation. I was nervous driving back.”

Upon his arrival home, Malone said he saw Potter with two men “in what was clearly a confrontation”. “I jumped out of the car and ran over to the confrontation and straight to Paul. I was concerned the men were going to do something to Paul,” he told the court.

He continued: “I then asked Paul ‘Are these the guys who broke into the house?’ and, as I said that, one of the men had come towards me – he was kind of on a side angle to me – and he threw his arms in front of him.

“I stepped back as he stepped towards me and, reflex really, I hit him.”

Malone said the man he hit fell into his neighbour’s van and then onto the ground. “His friend came round the back of the van and was clearly attacking me, and I hit him.”

He added: “It all happened very quickly. The closer I got to the situation I could tell these guys were not interested in talking.” Malone said he did not inflict any other injuries to the men.

Prosecutors argued that the rapper was consumed by rage and broke the men’s jaws as “retribution” after wrongly believing they were attempting to break into his home.

One witness told the court they saw Malone kick the man on the ground’s head “like a football”.

The incident occurred after a teenage girl – who cannot be named due to legal reasons – said she called her parents from the nearby black pudding throwing festival and requested to be picked up, because she and her friends were allegedly being chased by Malone. She added that she saw a boy climb Malone’s fence and shouted the rapper’s name.

The court heard that the teenage girl’s father, a family friend, and the boy’s father went to Malone’s house to get his side of the story.

The boy’s father threw a brick at the gates to Malone’s house, before forcing his way into the courtyard, the court heard. The rest of the group walked away before encountering Malone. The man who threw the brick has since been convicted of causing criminal damage.

Malone denied chasing the teenagers in his car, saying he did not mean to scare them but rather “motivate them” to stay away from his home.

Malone’s not guilty verdict was a unanimous decision, after which he was discharged from the dock following a week long trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Last year, Malone was hospitalised after crashing his motorcycle into the side of a car in Bury, Greater Manchester.

CCTV from a nearby home showed the moment an Audi reportedly pulled out of a T-junction, with the rapper unable to stop his bike as he ploughed into the driver’s door.

The post Bugzy Malone found not guilty in 2018 assault case appeared first on NME.