A holidaymaker at the centre of a poolside fight which saw footballer Kian Harratt throwing chairs at brawlers has revealed it all started with ‘aggressive splashing’.
Viral footage shows a group suddenly launching into a fight, including the Oldham Athletic striker who was seen throwing a chair at a middle-aged woman at the Marco Polo Hotel in San Antonio.
He insists he only joined in after his friend was punched by a ‘6 ft 6 bully’, but that man Brandon Watkins has denied these claims.
Instead, he said he was ‘provoked’ by Kian’s group who were ‘looking for a fight’.
Brandon told MailOnline: ‘The fight happened on day five of our holiday. We’d been around that pool every day and getting on with everybody and making friends with people.
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‘These guys turned up and started throwing balls about. Several people were saying they’re going to be trouble even before it kicked off.
‘At one point one of his mates got in the pool next to me and just started aggressively splashing me. One of them said what are you looking at?
‘Next thing I knew Kian picked up a chair and threw it.’
Brandon said Kian’s group appeared intoxicated, but after the brawl fellow holidaymakers bought them drinks to say thank you for dealing with the group.
They also stayed with the woman who had broken her toe in the fight, while Kian and his group were kicked out of the hotel.
A close friend of the woman injured in the fight also backed up Brandon’s version, saying: ‘It was carnage, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. My friend was injured. They were all just shouting and swearing at each other.
‘She’s an absolute angel and such a good person which is why she got involved – she saw people were arguing and she just went over to stop it.
‘Kian spoke to her like she was a piece of shit and Brandon stepped in out of respect and said don’t speak to a woman like that. Brandon threw the first punch then all Kian’s friends got involved.’
After the footage soon went viral, Kian apologised saying he ‘felt terrible’ – but later accused the injured woman of ‘going down a bit easy’.
The friend has hit back at his response, saying there is ‘no remorse whatsoever’.
They said: ‘Him and his mates were kicked out of the hotel without apologising, he’s only sorry because he has been identified.
‘My friend is really embarrassed by the whole thing, it was a horrible experience made worse as people who have seen the video have been trolling her online.’
In December, Harratt was fined over £1,153 after he was caught poaching in North Yorkshire.
Last year, Harratt was also banned for four months and fined £3,200 after admitting breaking the Football Association’s betting rules by placing 484 bets on matches.
Harratt, who was born in Pontefract, made his professional debut with Huddersfield Town in December 2019.
He scored a dramatic extra-time winner for Oldham in the National League play-off final at Wembley earlier this month.
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