Bar fight unprovoked - Vinnie

2008-12-09 19:12

London - Vinnie Jones says the bar fight which left him needing 48 stitches on his face was entirely unprovoked.

The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star - who was charged with simple assault for the incident in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, last week - insists he was "stitched up" by Juan Barrera, who had previously claimed Vinnie turned on him after he called the actor "that guy from X-Men".

Vinnie, 43, told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "The fact is - someone tried to blind me. Would you not be pissed off if someone tried to blind you for life?

"I was in South Dakota with a crowd of mates for a pheasant shoot. We stopped off for a few beers and didn't think anything of it. I arrived at the bar and was signing autographs and doing pictures.

"We were having a laugh with a group of lads at the pool table - whose girlfriends I was doing pictures for. They started having a joke about my films. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with a glass in my face.

"It was over in seconds. The blood was pouring out. The attack came from nowhere. I was stunned by it. All the way through it, someone was shouting, 'Knife!' It was like a car crash. It all seemed to happen so quickly."

Vinnie - who was photographed with severe cuts and bruises in his mug shot - also revealed he visited a top plastic surgeon following the attack to see if the damage could be repaired.

Father-of-two Vinnie added: "I've had 48 stitches in my face. I am just glad the surgeon did a brilliant job."

Vinnie could be sentenced to a year in jail if he is found guilty of assault.

Jesse Bickett, 24, the man accused of striking Vinnie with a beer mug, is still in custody. - Bang Showbiz.com

- Bang