A BARE-KNUCKLE fighter known as the King of the Gipsies gave police the names of eight men who he said had attacked him with knives and machetes at a Cumbrian horse event, a court heard yesterday.

But Louis Welch, 40, refused to provide a written statement to help police bring his attackers to justice because it was against the travellers’ code, a jury at Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Mr Welch, from Darlington, suffered severe wounds to his arm and back – some of them so deep they exposed his muscle – when he was repeatedly attacked near the beer tent at a harness racing event near Appleby, in Cumbria, last Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday.

Although there were up to 3,000 people at the event – a prelude to the town’s historic horse fair – no one could give detailed descriptions of the attackers.

But, the court heard, when a police officer spoke to Mr Welch in Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary two days after the attack, he told him the names of the eight men he said were responsible.

Detective Constable Steven Lacey told the jury that, though Mr Welch had been positively uncooperative until then and continued to refuse to make a formal statement, he had given him the names of his attackers.

“He said it was against his honour and beliefs to provide the police with a written statement,”

he said.

Det Con Lacey said Mr Welch, who lives in Yarm, near Stockton, had named Alex Varey, his father, John Varey, other relatives Frank Varey, Adolphus Varey senior and Adolphus Varey junior, and George Miller and two others he believed also had the surname Miller.

The officer said he made a note of the names in his pocket notebook but, unfortunately, was not able to show it to the court because he mislaid it several months ago.

“Unfortunately, I have lost my notebook, which is regrettable,”

he said.

Det Con Lacey said he did though enter the names on the police intelligence system.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Kenneth Hind, Det Con Lacey said he had never met Mr Welch before and could not explain why he had chosen to give him the names of his attackers when he had refused to do so to three other police officers, including Inspector Lee Skelton, of Appleby, whom he had known for four years.

“He decided to open up to you, a complete stranger, but refused to do so to anyone else?” Mr Hind asked. “You had been able to achieve something that no one else had been able to achieve?”

“Yes,” the detective replied.

Det Con Lacey was giving evidence on the fifth day of the trial of Alex Varey, 19, and George Miller, 18, who have pleaded not guilty to wounding Mr Welch with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

The men, both from Clare Road, Lancaster, were charged after their fingerprints were found on machetes found discarded at the scene of the attack, on May 25 last year.

The prosecution says that the forensic evidence is supported by analysis of mobile phones believed to belong to Varey and Miller, which, it says, shows they had been in the Appleby area at the time of the attack, even though they said they had not been.

The case for the defence is due to start on Monday.