Friend punched Big Brother star and doused him with beer at festival

A former Big Brother contestant was attacked by a friend at a beer festival, a court heard.

Darnell Swallow, 37, who appeared on the 2008 series, was punched on the back of the head and doused with beer by 35-year-old Luke Gillman during the Great British Beer Festival at the Olympia exhibition centre on August 11 last year.

Mr Swallow was on the receiving end of a “flurry of blows”, prosecutor Charles Shelton told City of London magistrates’ court.

Mr Shelton told magistrates Gillman was the father of a two-month-old son at the time and “was offended that Mr Swallow had not been around to see his newborn baby”.

Gillman admitted being “blind drunk”, but claimed Mr Swallow had been aggressive towards him.

However, magistrates rejected his self-defence claims and found him guilty of assault. Gillman, of Holloway, was fined £540 and ordered to pay £829 in court costs and fees.