A FATHER on trial for assault has told a jury that he was the victim.

Stephen James Palmer, aged 44, of Greenhill, is on trial for two counts of common assault.

He is also jointly charged, along with his son, Jacob Charlton and Robin Brown, both 20, on one count of assault and one of affray.

The charges relate to the early hours of November 26, 2010, when the defendants had been out to celebrate Charlton’s 18th birthday.

Taking the stand at Dorchester Crown Court, Palmer said he had not assaulted doormen or the off-duty manager of Aura nightclub.

He said he had moved to ‘restrain’ the manager after he saw him attack one or two others in the group.

He said he was hit later by the alleged victim of the assault for which the defendants are charged – a Dorothy Inn doorman.

Palmer told the court the doorman had shouted at the group.

He said when he went to defuse the situation and tell the alleged victim to stop, he was punched in the chest and the face.

Referring to images of injuries to his face, Palmer said they had been caused when three or four doormen pinned him up against a wall and then to the floor.

He said: “I believe one of them stood on the back of my head to push my face into the pavement.”

He denied he had a problem with doormen, but he had seen some being ‘heavy-handed’ in the past.

He said: “I didn’t do anything wrong, I never assaulted anyone.”

Brown said that kicking someone was ‘not the kind of thing’ he would do. He said: “I don’t remember what happened but I believe in myself and I know in myself I wouldn’t kick someone, regardless of who they are or where they are.

“I wouldn’t kick someone – it’s just not something I would do.”

Charlton denied the charges and said that he had feared for his father’s safety when the doorman was aggressive towards him. The trial continues.