Doorman pushed customer ‘instinctively’, inquest told
A former pub doorman told an inquest he instinctively pushed a customer who then fell to the ground and struck his head because he thought he had been stabbed.
Wolves fan Kalwinder Singh Mangat, aged 50, nicknamed Kully, died from his injuries five days after the incident outside The Old Still Inn in Wolverhampton city centre, on January 19, 2019.
Duty door supervisor Stuart Hickinbottom told the hearing that he was in shock following the late-night confrontation and could not recall some of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the incident outside the public house in King Street.
The jury was told that the incident was captured on CCTV.
Giving evidence Mr Hickinbottom said he asked Mr Mangat to leave after being informed by another customer that he had been previously barred, and he complied.
The men appeared to be talking together for several minutes with Mr Mangat gesticulating before stepping back from the doorway then returning.
Black Country Area Coroner Mrs Joanne Lees asked him what he said to Mr Mangat once he was outside. Mr Hickinbottom replied: “Just to leave. Other people were coming and going from the smoking area.”
Mr Hickinbottom added that he was asking why he was being ejected from the pub and that he swore at them repeatedly.
Conflict
He said he had been trained in physical intervention and conflict management methods.
He told the coroner during the confrontation he felt something touch his left side and he reacted “instantly”.
“I didn’t think about it. I felt something on my side. I thought I had been stabbed with something,” he said.
He said he went inside the pub, but had no injuries.
Mrs Lees said that Mr Hickinbottom was arrested in the aftermath of the incident and following a police investigation he was not charged with any offence.
Mr Mangat, of Renton Road, Oxley, Wolverhampton, was survived by his wife Harjinder and two children.
A charity football match held in Mr Mangat’s his memory raised £3,450.75 in aid of The Haven centre after he died. The inquest continues in Oldbury.
