A local chef who punched a man in the face claims he did so because his victim had grabbed his buttocks.

Simon David Carruthers, 29, of Arlington Avenue, Pembroke is accused of assaulting Andrew McAllister of Southampton. Mr. McAllister was struck in the face and suffered a black eye and three facial fractures as a result of the incident, which took place outside the Bank of Butterfield on Front Street last November.

But defence lawyer Mark Pettingill told Magistrate Edward King that Mr.

McAllister had grabbed Carruthers' buttocks during an earlier encounter at the Oasis Night Club. McAllister is also thought to have encouraged a fight with the defendant.

In his statement, Carruthers explained that Mr. McAllister, accompanied by a man in women's clothing, groped his buttocks for a second time just before the assault took place.

But Mr. McAllister said he could not recall these actions and claimed them to be "totally out of character,'' and "something I'd remember''.

The complainant met with the cross dresser, Stephen Emery, outside the Oasis nightclub. They agreed to split a taxi to their respective residences.

But Mr. McAllister realised he had no money and so the two made their way to a nearby ATM where they met Carruthers, now in the middle of a transaction at the bank terminal.

The defendant claimed Mr. McAllister "grabbed my a** and said something'' while waiting to use the machine.

Mr. McAllister denied these allegations and Mr. Emery, present only feet away, said he did not see the alleged act, but admitted he had turned away briefly.

Seeing others nearby, whom he presumed to be accomplices, Carruthers "felt intimidated and feared an assault''. He swung around and hit Mr. McAllister in the face with a closed fist "out of self defence.'' McAllister fell to the ground unconscious and was immediately taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where he required corrective surgery for his injuries.