A BRITISH man wanted over a gang attack that left a man with a broken jaw was caught after he appeared as a contestant on reality TV show Come Dine With Me.
Carlos Buller, an interior designer from Manchester, northern England, was filmed on CCTV hitting Anthony Hargreaves in a pub, but police were unable to identify him.
He was finally identified from his appearance on the hit cookery show in December 2009 – a year after the episode first aired – and arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm.
The 45-year-old admitted the offence at Manchester Crown Court and was given an eight-month suspended sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work, Manchester Evening News reported.
Although Buller did not strike the blow that broke the victim’s jaw, he was shown repeatedly attacking Hargreaves on the head and body with his satchel during an argument over a chair at the Red Lion pub in Manchester in October 2008, the court heard.
Mr Hargreaves said, “The attack has left me in a terrible state, both physically and mentally. It was a sustained, nasty attack, and I did not provoke the violence used on me.”
Katherine Pierpoint, defending Buller, said: “When he saw that CCTV footage he was, and still is, deeply ashamed and embarrassed at what can only be described as disgraceful, disgusting behavior. He shows remorse for what happened. This was a stupid, drunken argument that he accepts got completely out of hand.”
Judge Roger Dutton told Buller, “You are older than the usual person who appears before these courts for fighting in pubs. One would have thought by your age, you’d have grown out of it. Your victim didn’t deserve the beating he got … you must bear responsibility, jointly, for what occurred.”
Come Dine With Me challenges amateur chefs to compete against each other to hold the best dinner party. Guests admired Buller’s flamboyantly decorated apartment and his Caribbean menu, but he finished second-to-last after arguing with another contestant.
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