Warning: Distressing Content
A 20-year-old man who was filmed allegedly knocking out an 18-year-old woman by punching her outside a nightclub, has been taken to police by his own mother.
Liam Holmes’ mum marched her son down to Ilford Police Station, east London, yesterday, (July 31), to speak to officers about the incident, which took place outside Faces nightclub in Gants Hill.
The ugly scenes are believed to have taken place at around 3am on Saturday, July 28, and is currently being investigated by police.
Liam’s mum, 53-year-old Cathy, told MailOnline:
People will judge him on the back of that video clip but he’s no terror. I had a brain haemorrhage a while back and he’s been my carer.
He hardly goes out anymore and when he does this happens.
In the nine-second video of the incident, a woman can be seen standing very close to Liam, while he stands facing her with his arms folded.
After exchanging words with one another, he then takes a step back and hits her twice, knocking her to the ground as a result.
The 20-year-old was photographed outside Ilford Police Station yesterday, (July 31), after being interviewed by police.
You can watch the shocking footage here:
Metropolitan police are treating the attack as actual bodily harm, with a spokesperson saying:
A 20-year-old man has been interviewed under caution in connection with an alleged assault after attending an east London police station voluntarily yesterday. He was subsequently released under investigation.
The alleged incident, which is being treated as actual bodily harm, took place outside Faces nightclub at 3am on Saturday. The female victim was taken to hospital for treatment, and subsequently discharged. Enquiries continue.
His mother Cathy continued:
The clip online showing him hitting the girl makes him look bad but that’s only a fraction of the real story.
There was a lot that went on before that clip that people don’t know about. There was a lot that preceded it.
He wouldn’t do that for no reason. That’s all I’ll say for now because we’re about to meet with our solicitor to go to the police station and give a statement.
The police have assured me that they have the full CCTV footage so will know what went on beforehand.
The owners of Faces nightclub said they were ‘astonished’ by the violent incident.
Speaking to the Ilford Recorder, owner Tony Bee said:
I’ve been doing this job since the 70s and I’ve not seen anything like it before.
The managers, who were still in the building, went outside to help after they heard the incident.
Tony said:
It was 50 yards down the road, but we did the moral thing and went to give her assistance.
The owner revealed the two people involved in the altercation had both been at the club that night, but said there was ‘no hint’ of a problem between them while they were inside.
The nightclub has a policy of scanning all IDs on entry, and management confirmed they’re assisting police with their investigation.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.