Football agent cleared of assaulting drinker in Altrincham village pub toilets

A football agent has been cleared of assaulting a man in a pub toilet. James Lee Featherstone, 51, was accused of attacking the man alongside his co-defendant, Benjamin Cowgill, 41, in March 2019.

Today a jury found both men not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Manchester Crown Court previously heard that the man had gone to the Stamford Arms pub, in the village of Bowdon, Altrincham, where he met some friends for a drink.

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He went into the toilet at around 8.30pm and noticed a man, he later identified as Ms Cowgill, near the urinals and ‘swaying a little’, prosecutors said.

The man noticed that there wasn’t any toilet paper so went to retrieve some from the landlord, and upon his return he saw Mr Cowgill was stood leaning against the wall in the toilets talking on his phone.

As he was using the toilet, Mr Cowgill, of Bowden, then allegedly started shouting ‘obscenities’ through the door. He allegedly said: “This is f****** great he is having a s**t, a big f***** s**t”.

The man went to leave, but opened the door to find Mr Cowgill standing at the door with his phone out, appearing to be filming him, the court heard. Giving evidence, the man said he felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ and said he could hear him saying: “Did you f****** enjoy that mate, did you have a big s**t, did you enjoy it?”

The man said he reacted by trying to grab Mr Cowgill’s phone but he ‘turned his back’ and began filming him in the mirror, he alleged. He then stated that he pushed him ‘out of the way’ at which point Mr Cowgill fell back as he was ‘unsteady on his feet’.

The man then went to leave before hearing a ‘growl’ and felt a