A bride was arrested on suspicion of glassing a guest in the face on her wedding day after being involved in a 12-man brawl.
The
32-year-old from Kent, who has been named locally as Amy Ward, spent
her first night of married life in jail and was still wearing her
wedding dress when she was arrested by police in the early hours of
yesterday morning.
She was released without charge as the 29-year-old victim who suffered cuts to his face did not want to press charges.
It is believed the bride was trying to defend her husband from being attacked by a guest.
The
groom, a 54-year-old man believed to be Allen Herve, was treated at the
scene for a cut to his elbow by paramedics after he tried to intervene
in the fight.
Police
and paramedics were scrambled to the hotel after guests dialled 999 and
found two men, one aged 29 and one aged 30, suffering from facial
injuries.
The
29-year-old was rushed to Darent Valley Hospital in Datford, Kent,
suffering from cuts to the face and the 30-year-old was taken to
Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington with a broken nose.
Miss
Ward was arrested in front of scores of wedding guests on suspicion of
assaulting the 29-year-old man who suffered cuts to his face – believed
to have been caused by a broken bottle or a glass.
The bride, from Orpington, was not responsible for the injuries sustained by the second man.
It
is not known whether Miss Ward has taken her husband’s surname. The
groom, a senior council manager, has been named locally as Allen Herve.
Mr
Herve, who married Miss Ward – 22 years his junior – is believed to be
the CCTV Enforcement and Contract Manager at the London Borough of
Bromley.
Miss
Ward was kept in custody overnight at Bromley Police Station, but
released on Sunday afternoon after the victim declined to press charges
or assist police with the investigation.
She was given a caution for affray.
A friend, who does not want to be named, said tonight the bride was trying to defend her husband.
She
said: ‘There is absolutely no way that Amy and Allen caused the trouble
– far from it. There was a guest at the wedding who behaved like a
complete animal and he caused the trouble.
‘I’ve never known either Amy or Allen to get involved in anything like this before, it’s not in their character.
‘This
guest got more and more drunk throughout the reception, increasingly
misbehaved and acted totally out of order. He was rude and aggressive
and he was upsetting lots of people at the reception.
‘The trouble started when he attacked Allen who had been trying to reason with him, telling him to behave.
‘Amy
saw Allen being attacked and was desperately trying to stop it. I
didn’t see her hit the man but he definitely deserved something for the
way he behaved.
‘Neither of them was in any way to blame for this.
‘I’m sure you can imagine how they must be feeling, no one would want something like this to happen at their wedding.’
Police
said that a ’12-man brawl’ kicked off just before 1am and that officers
were called by guests who reported a ‘disturbance’.
A
police spokesman said today: ‘Police were called to a disturbance at a
wedding party at the Bromley Court Hotel at 1am on Sunday.
‘When
officers arrived there was a brawl between 12 guests and the bride, who
was easily identifiable because she was still wearing her wedding
dress.
‘She was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a 29-year-old man who had received cuts to his face.
‘A 30-year-old man was also treated for a broken nose, but his assailant is unknown and the groom received cuts to his elbow.’
He
added: ‘The bride was kept in custody overnight, but because the
29-year-old victim did not want to press charges or help police with its
investigation she was given a police caution for affray and released
without charge.’
A source said: ‘It will be a night to remember for all the wrong reasons.’
Mr Herve’s two grown-up daughters – Kelly, 31, and Hayley, 29 – from a previous marriage were both at the wedding party.
Mr Herve is believed to have worked at the council for more than 12 years, after taking the job in June 2000.
A spokesman for the council said today: ‘Mr Herve is on annual leave at the moment as he got married on Saturday.
‘He is due back at work on January 2.’
When asked about the wedding day brawl, she said: ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t invited and don’t know anything about the incident.’
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