Pub attacker nabbed after appearing on TV shows

LONDON - A 45-year-old British interior designer, who was caught on CCTV hitting a man in a pub brawl, has been arrested after police identified him on a TV cookery show, a media report said.

Carlos Buller was caught on CCTV hitting Anthony Hargreaves in a pub brawl, but police were unable to identify him, the Manchester Evening News reported.

But he was caught after apparently being spotted taking part as a contestant on the hit Channel 4 cookery show “Come Dine With Me”.

Interior designer Buller was arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was spared jail and given an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting the offence at Manchester Crown Court.

The court heard that Buller, from Bradshaw Avenue, Withington, repeatedly hit the victim with his ‘man-bag’ in a drunken row over a chair.

He showed better table manners in a December 2008 episode of “Come Dine With Me”, the hit TV programme which challenges keen cooks to throw the best dinner party.

Guests admired Buller’s flamboyantly decorated flat before he served up a Caribbean menu of red snapper and sweet potato soup, followed by rice, peas and chicken, with banana and pineapple crumble for dessert.

But he finished second-to-last after falling out with another contestant.

Two months before the episode was aired, Oct 18, 2008, Buller was recorded on CCTV among a group of men who attacked Hargreaves in the Red Lion pub in Withington.

Although Buller did not strike the blow which fractured the victim’s jaw, he was shown repeatedly hitting the victim on the head and body.

He was arrested a year later after the episode of “Come Dine With Me” was repeated. He is the only one of the brawlers to face justice so far.

Police say they made the arrest after acting on intelligence. In a statement, victim Hargreaves said: “The attack has left me in a terrible state, both physically and mentally.

“It was a sustained, nasty attack and I did not provoke the violence used on me.”

Katherine Pierpoint, defending Buller, said: “When he saw that CCTV footage he was, and still is, deeply ashamed and embarrassed at what can only be described as disgraceful, disgusting behaviour. He shows remorse for what happened. This was a stupid, drunken argument that he accepts got completely out of hand.”

She added: “He is a man who is not without ability. He has a number of strings to his bow. He’s worked all round the world as an interior designer and also as a chef. He in fact has taken part in a popular TV show, ‘Come Dine With Me’, where he and other contestants went to each other’s houses for dinner.

“It’s regularly shown and repeated on TV. It may be a police officer in the case has seen that and then identified him from the CCTV.”

Judge Roger Dutton told Buller: “You are older than the usual person who appears before these courts for fighting in pubs, one would have thought by your age, you’d have grown out of it.”

Sentencing him to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, plus 150 hours unpaid work, the judge added: “Your victim didn’t deserve the beating he got. You were just one of a number involved; you must bear responsibility, jointly, for what occurred.”