Doorman accused over nightclubber's death in Bingley

James Etherington suffered head injuries outside a club in Bingley

A doorman is accused of causing the death of a man he ejected from a nightclub in a row over payment for drinks, a court has heard.

Ciaran Spencer has gone on trial over the death of 24-year-old James Etherington outside the Bijou nightclub in Bingley on 25 November 2017.

Mr Spencer, 25, of Keighley, denies involuntary manslaughter.

Mr Etherington suffered a fractured skull after being thrown out and died in hospital 10 days later.

He had been out in Leeds before travelling back to Bingley in the early hours of the morning, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He had drunk two shots in the club but refused to pay staff £4 for them, prosecutor David Brooke QC said.

Mr Spencer, of Green Head Drive, Utley, was one of three doormen who then approached Mr Etherington.

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Mr Brooke alleged Mr Spencer, a licensed doorman, used an inappropriate headlock or neck-hold to force Mr Etherington backwards out of the club and he was rendered "unconscious or almost unconscious" before the defendant let go of him outside the entrance.

Footage from CCTV captured Mr Etherington falling backwards on to the pavement.

Mr Brooke said: "There is no suggestion that the defendant acted in a way intending to kill James Etherington or to cause him really serious harm.

"The prosecution's case is that his death was the result of the defendant's unlawful actions that night."

In a police interview, Mr Spencer admitted getting him in "a bit of a headlock" but denied holding him round the neck.

He had just "let him go" and didn't know if Mr Etherington had tripped, he told police.

Mr Brooke referred to a message allegedly sent by Mr Spencer to a friend around the time of the incident that said: "I've just choked somebody out."

Mr Spencer is then said to have told his friend to delete the message, which he did, not realising the seriousness of the situation.

Mr Brooke said a pathologist had indicated that the strongest possibility was Mr Etherington was rendered unconscious or near to it by the application of the headlock.

The trial continues.