A RACEGOER allegedly broke another man's skull at York Racecourse during last year's August meeting, a jury was told.

Prosecution barrister Christine Egerton claimed that Michael Anthony Day, 28, hit out in a dispute started when a disabled man stumbled into one of his friends.

The incident happened as racegoers were leaving the course at the end of racing on Thursday, August 22.

Day, of Knowle Close, Crossley Park, Liverpool, denies causing grievous bodily harm.

Opening the prosecution at York Crown Court, Miss Egerton alleged that John Bollands, 27, and his stepbrother, Andrew Pollard, 21, were on their way to the minibus which would take them home to Middlesbrough.

Mr Pollard, who is one-armed and has a false leg, lost his balance and stumbled into a Liverpudlian who had accompanied Day to the races.

Giving evidence, Mr Bollands claimed that he tried to calm down Day's friend, who was shouting and swearing.

Then he remembered nothing apart from a brief moment of consciousness in an ambulance until he came round in York Hospital with a fractured skull.

Mr Pollard, in the witness stand, said he frequently stumbled into people because of his disability. He alleged that after he stumbled, he had immediately apologised to the other man.

He did not remember the other man swearing at him, but alleged he saw a fist moving quickly across his sight and turned to see his stepbrother on the ground.

He denied that any of his group of relatives and friends had thrown punches.

Miss Egerton alleged that Day walked away from the incident, but had been seen by an off-duty policeman, who pointed him out to a uniformed officer.

Day claimed to police that he acted in self-defence after he was punched and that he only pushed Mr Bollands away.

The trial continues.

Updated: 10:27 Tuesday, June 03, 2003