Former boxing champion David Haye ‘grabbed man by the throat’ and ‘threatened to kill him’ during comedy show row

Former heavyweight champion David Haye grabbed a man by the throat and threatened to kill him for making ‘derogatory remarks’ about him and his partner, a court heard.

Haye, 41, is accused of assaulting a man, Nickesh Jhala, at the Hammersmith Apollo on October 30 last year.

The Briton, who retired from boxing in 2018 having won world titles in two weight divisions, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Jonathan Bryan, prosecuting, told the court that the alleged assault occurred during the interval at Paul Chowdhry’s comedy gig at the venue.

Mr Jhala, his girlfriend, and his cousin were sitting behind Haye and his girlfriend.

‘It seems that Mr Haye believed that some of the people sitting behind him were saying derogatory remarks about him and his partner,’ Mr Bryan said.

‘We say Mr Haye put his hands around Mr Jhala’s throat and threatened him, saying things to the effect that if Mr Jhala said anything more, he would kill him,’ Mr Bryan added.

He told the court that Mr Jhala was not hurt by the incident, but he was left ‘shaken’.

The prosecutor added: ‘The security were aware of what happened, but nothing was done about it.’

James Scobie KC, defending, said that his client’s case was that he never put his hands around Mr Jhala’s throat, and he did not threaten to kill him.

‘Our unequivocal case is ‘hand on shoulder’, at most, and no threats to kill, ever,’ he said.

Giving evidence to the court, Mr Jhala said that he did not talk about Haye, but instead talked about how glad he and his friends were to get better seats.

Originally his group were sitting at the back, but they were then given seats near the front of the venue by staff during the interval.

CCTV footage of the incident shows Haye stepping over his seat