Bez Found Guilty By ‘Kangaroo Court’

Ex-Happy Mondays dancer Bez intends to appeal being found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend, describing the hearing as a “kangaroo court.”

Bez, whose real name is Mark Berry, accused Monica Ward of stealing cash before flying into a rage and throttling her, Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard Aug. 10.

Ward told the court she feared for her life during the attack, which was at the flat they shared in Whalley Range, Manchester, May 24.

The argument broke out the day after they were paid £300 for a concert by their band, Domino Bones.

“I told him he had put down the money somewhere and forgotten where he had put it. He has a history of mislaying things,” she said.

“He had both hands around my neck, he was just looking insane and squeezing me for about five seconds,” she said. “He told me he was going to kill me before the police arrived.”

Bez, who had denied the charge, will be sentenced Aug. 25.

He said he hid the money but later found some of it missing, and claimed there was a history of money going missing. He says he told Ward he was leaving her.

“There was no battering, no throttling, that is her fabrication,” he said.

He said shortly afterwards he left the flat but returned because he was wandering the streets in shorts and a T-shirt. He allegedly kicked the door down, picked up a £20, and went out again.

Ward said she previously was a victim of domestic violence at his hands, but agreed there had been aggression on both sides.

“We are not saying it was a deliberate attack but we do believe that a technical assault took place,” chairman of the magistrates Marie Cash explained.