A man said to have brandished a metal pole and a chair in a brawl that spiled into an Oxford car wash was accused of making up his account as he went along.
Together with his brother, Ionut, Minel Albastroiu is accused of taking part in an ‘organised’ meet with at least three other men at the junction of Magdalen and Cowley roads on October 8 last year.
The brothers, who say they were in Oxford looking for cars to buy, came off worse in the brawl that spilled from Magdalen Road into the Shiny hand car wash. Ionut, 28, had to be taken to hospital by his brother after an opponent slashed at his legs with a knife.
The men deny charges of violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon, claiming they acted in lawful self-defence.
Giving evidence from the witness stand on Tuesday, Minel, 27, said he’d been driven to Oxford by a friend – arriving in the city of dreaming spires at around 10am.
He spent the morning looking for cars with his brother before getting lunch on Cowley Road at around 12.30pm.
By 1.20pm he was on Magdalen Road. His brother, driving a grey Mercedes saloon, pulled into a layby outside the Christian Life Centre.
Minel variously said they’d stayed in the car talking about whether or not to buy a vehicle, that his brother was not feeling well. They’d got out the Mercedes to stretch their legs, with CCTV showing Ionut standing by the car smoking, before their opponents pulled up in a grey Vauxhall Insignia. Minel claimed they’d planned to go and speak to people working in the car wash.
Cross examining him, prosecutor Leigh Hart asked: “Mr Albastroiu, are you making this up as you go along?
He replied: “No, why should I make it up?” He went on to deny they were waiting for the men in the Vauxhall Insignia. The driver of the Vauxhall was said to have given them a ‘funny look’ on a previous occasion.
Earlier, Minel told his barrister, Richard Davies, that he and his brother ‘had to protect our lives’.
“How did this situation leave you feeling after it happened?” Mr Davies asked.
Minel replied: “It’s something that I can’t put into words. From the moment [of] that incident - all these six months - it’s something that marked my life.”
Of the three men in the Vauxhall only the driver, Laurentiu Valeriu Baicu, who has previous convictions for attempted murder and ‘not respecting the regime on guns and ammunition’, had been identified. He remains at large.
The Albastroius, of Rosebery Avenue, Tottenham, deny violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon. The trial continues.
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