An Elvis impersonator who was assaulted by shamed footballer Anthony Stokes says he feels sorry for him after he was sentenced to prison.
Former Republic of Ireland footballer Stokes was this week handed a 15-month jail sentence over a seizure of almost €4,000 worth of cocaine and a high-speed car chase in Dublin.
The ex-Celtic and Sunderland player, who was over the alcohol limit, drove at 160 km/h and nearly collided with another motorist shortly after midnight on January 6, 2023 – and he was sentenced to jail – after it emerged that he failed a recent drug test.
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Now performer Anthony Bradley, who was infamously assaulted by Stokes and never paid E230,000 in compensation from him, says all he feels is sorrow for the former star footballer. “I genuinely feel saddened for that chap. I’ve long since forgiven him,” he told us. “What he did was unmeditated.”
Mr Bradley also said he blames the State for ever taking the assault case against Stokes in the first place.
“It’s the State I blame for leading me into pursuing him as that’s a road I did not want,” he said. Mr Bradley’s case against Stokes made several headlines throughout 2017 and the years after when it emerged that the Irish football star had not paid a court-ordered E230,000 to the performer
Stokes was given a two-year suspended sentence that year at Dublin Circuit Court for head-butting Mr Bradley in the shocking incident which occurred at Buck Whaleys nightclub in 2013.
During the incident Mr Bradley suffered a broken nose, broken teeth and serious effects on his mental health from the assault, which meant he lost his job as a security man at Dublin’s Gresham hotel and had to set aside his love of impersonating singer Elvis Presley. Stokes’s attack on Anthony Bradley meant the Elvis impersonator had to travel to Budapest for surgery.
This week retired footballer Stokes was jailed after he also entered an additional guilty plea to possessing 86 illegal street tablets in Cabinteely, south Co Dublin, about ten days after the traffic pursuit, which the judge regarded to be an aggravating factor, and she refused to suspend any of the sentence.
Stokes, of Summerhill Place, Dublin 1, supported in court by his girlfriend and mother, showed no emotion as the judge jailed him and imposed a five-year driving ban. Stokes has been making headlines over the last number of years for a variety of damaging incidents.
Last month, Judge Malone had adjourned sentencing Stokes, 36, for a treatment report to prove he is off drugs, but it found he still had traces of cocaine in his system. Defence solicitor Lorraine Stephens said her client was young, fit, and healthy and asked the judge to consider a community service order.
Ms Stephens said father-of-three Stokes had been in denial about his problems, “is trying to battle his demons,” and could need intensive psychological assistance and “proper residential treatment”.
Judge Malone said Stokes could have faced up to two years’ imprisonment. However, she gave him credit for his guilty pleas and imposed sentences totalling one year and three months. Finalising the case, she noted the evidence about the nature of his driving, the speed and length of the chase, the fact that he was uninsured, and the low alcohol reading, and she added that the drug offences were very serious.
He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of cocaine hidden in a sock, and having the drug for sale or supply. At his previous hearing, the judge heard how his drink issues spiralled into cocaine addiction when his football career ended.
Stokes admitted driving while over the alcohol limit and four counts of dangerous driving during the pursuit from the Naas Road to the Phoenix Park. The ex-Premier League star also admitted not producing a driving licence and not having motor insurance.
Garda Radoslaw Konczewski recalled observing the ex-footballer speeding on Walkinstown Avenue at around 12.20 am. The officer activated his patrol car lights, but Stokes failed to stop and continued to the Long Mile Road junction, “which he entered at speed, breaking a red light”.
Stokes drove to the Naas Road, broke another red light at a major junction and continued to Ballyfermot Road, breaking two pedestrian red lights and one at a junction.
He continued to Kennelsfort Road Upper, broke a red light, and “almost collided with a car on the Chapelizod bypass”. The accused, who had a passenger in the car, went to Knockmaroon Road and stopped at the closed gates of Phoenix Park. Stokes abandoned the vehicle but was caught following a short foot pursuit.
The car chase lasted about 10 minutes. Garda Konczewski estimated that Stokes reached a speed of 160km/h at some stages and around 140km/h when he drove through Ballyfermot village.
Gardai brought his car to Crumlin station. Cocaine worth €3,700 was found in wraps inside a sock, kept in the air vent on the driver’s side. His DNA was also found on the sock. The court heard he also provided a urine sample, which was over the alcohol limit, but he was “fully cooperative” and “he was a pleasure to deal with”.
Stokes had one prior conviction in this jurisdiction for assault causing harm in 2013, which resulted in a suspended sentence and a €30,000 compensation order. The judge noted he also had a record of failing to turn up to court and has spent time in custody in another jurisdiction, but details about that were not available.
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