'It was only banter...'

A heckler who relentlessly hurled foul-mouthed abuse at comedian Mike Reid has wound up in court on abusive behaviour charges.

Graham Flynn was also charged with common assault when he attacked theatre staff trying to remove him – striking out with his crutches.

His relentless disruption of Reid’s stand-up show at the Playhouse in Weston-super-Mare went unabated, even when the audience had shouted for him to sit down.

He even climbed up to the stage and joined in while the comic and EastEnders star was singing Frank Sinatra’s That's Life.

It was then theatre staff tried to eject him, and Flynn struck out, hitting front-of-house manager Barry North twice across his knuckles.

North Somerset Magistrates found the unemployed 51-year-old guilty on each of two charges of common assault and abusive behaviour in November 2004.

In his defence, Flynn – who was using crutches because he had broken his leg a month earlier - unsuccessfully argued that joining in was all part of the fun.

According to the Bristol Evening Post, he told the court: ‘We had a rapport.  I began to interact with him and he was encouraging the audience to join in. It was like Cockney banter.

‘If you go to shows like this, you expect heckling and bad language. If you went to this show, you would be a bit disgruntled if some of this verbal didn't happen.  I paid £16 and didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I was not drunk.’

Flynn denied assault, saying he was only trying to free himself when staff grabbed him.

But he was given an 18-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay Mr North £50 in compensation and £250 towards costs.

Published: 4 Mar 2006