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Brit branded ‘6ft 6in bully built like a brick' by Kian Harratt hits back at EFL star over Ibiza chair-hurling brawl

Brit branded ‘6ft 6in bully built like a brick' by Kian Harratt hits back at EFL star over Ibiza chair-hurling brawl

The Sun4 hours ago

A "6'6 bully" Brit accused of sparking the Ibiza pool fight where Kian Harratt lobbed a chair into a woman has hit back and claimed the player was the key troublemaker.
Shocking footage showed the 23-year-old Oldham Athletic striker launching a plastic chair during a bust-up at the Marco Polo Hotel in San Antonio on Saturday afternoon.
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It decked a middle-aged woman who was trying to break up the ruckus.
The striker broke his silence last night, admitting he feels "terrible" and "very apologetic" - but also levelled the blame at a poolside "bully".
Kian said: "He was the worst man you could ever come across and a bully! He was 6'6 and built like a brick!"
Now, that man - Brandon Watkins, 31 - has hit back at Kian, blasting: "I'm 6ft 4 for a start and I'm not a bully."
Brandon told MailOnline that the footballer had "provoked" his friends and the whole group were "looking for a fight".
He claimed all had been peaceful during the five days of their stay before Kian and his gang rocked up.
The new arrivals were lobbing balls around causing trouble from the moment they arrived, Brandon claimed.
He continued: "'They were just being a nightmare. One lad was winding us up. Kian was sat right next to him and if anything Kian was provoking him.
"Next thing I knew Kian picked up a chair and threw it."
Brandon went on to claim that Kian appeared drunk, and that other guests congratulated his group for seeing off the disruptive bunch.
Brit tourists face holiday chaos with strikes confirmed for 180,000 hospitality staff throughout July on hotspot islands
He said: "It's just outrageous for a footballer to behave like he did."
Two videos captured the brawl, including one which appears to show the striker - wearing black shorts and with his distinctive goatee - launching the chair.
Another Brit holidaymaker, Kyle Crawford, witnessed the bust-up and told The Sun the striker and three of his pals were "being horrible".
Kyle didn't recognise 23-year-old EFL star Harratt at the time of the altercation - but confirmed his identity after watching the footage back.
A second source who was caught up in the fight told The Sun: "It was Kian Harratt. He was bothering these girls."
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Kyle said Harratt and his friends were "throwing little rugby balls" at the female tourists inside the pool, one of which being the woman who was struck by a chair later on.
"They were just in the pool splashing them and throwing balls at them - being proper immature," he explained.
Kyle claimed he and his mate stepped in to stand up for the women.
"Me and my mates stuck up for them, and then in the end, they'd come to attack my mate," he said.
He alleged that there was an altercation, and his mate was punched first during the ruckus.
He said his pal hit back, and the whole confrontation "calmed down" for a bit.
But shortly after, the player and his pals started hurling chairs towards Kyle and his mates, with one of the women who was initially being disturbed getting caught in the crossfire.
"They start throwing chairs - they threw a chair at a woman," he said.
And a second clip, moments after the initial throw, shows another man hurling a second chair, which knocked the other men into the pool.
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The Brit tourist explained: "We just stuck up for her, the lads were just being idiots, immature.
"This video doesn't do us justice for actually being gentlemen and looking after these women."
He detailed that after the altercation, the men "all got kicked out", while Kyle says he and his mates were praised by staff for standing up to them.
"All the staff around the pool said thanks and what gentlemen we were," he said.
"The women thought they were idiots, immature and stupid."

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EXCLUSIVE Inside the troubled personal life of Wembley winner-football yob who knocked woman out with a chair: Criminal convictions, betting ban and why insider says 'he is a little bit off his head'
EXCLUSIVE Inside the troubled personal life of Wembley winner-football yob who knocked woman out with a chair: Criminal convictions, betting ban and why insider says 'he is a little bit off his head'

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE Inside the troubled personal life of Wembley winner-football yob who knocked woman out with a chair: Criminal convictions, betting ban and why insider says 'he is a little bit off his head'

Three weeks ago footballer Kian Harratt had the world at his feet - he had just scored the winning goal in extra time at Wembley to earn Oldham Athletic promotion back to the football league. But following MainOnline's explosive revelation that Harratt was the yob at the centre of a shameful brawl and threw a chair, injuring an innocent woman trying to separate the fighting groups, his future has never looked more uncertain. When the video started going viral on social media earlier this week Harratt - who is understood to have been celebrating his promotion with a group of childhood friends - initially appeared to laugh off the controversy, resharing it on his own channels. Oldham - who he only signed for in March - has so far made no comment about the video. But facing mounting pressure on Thursday the player broke his silence on the fracas, claiming he was 'very apologetic and 'felt terrible' and that he 'accidentally hit' the lady before bizarrely slipping in a football cliche when he accused the woman of going 'down a bit easy'. Despite his young age, this is not the first controversial incident involving the talented footballer. Born into a traveller family in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, Harratt wowed scouts with his intelligence and strength from an early age prompting both Barnsley and Leeds United to give him opportunities in their academy before he signed as an academy scholar at Huddersfield Town in 2018. He made his professional debut the following year and spent several successful spells out on loan but by 2022 he was making headlines for the wrong reasons when he was convicted of hare coursing at a farm in East Yorkshire. The cruel sport involving dogs - usually greyhounds, lurchers or salukis - chasing and attempting to kill hares while participants bet on the outcome has been illegal since 2005. Beverley Magistrates Court fined him £830, plus £233 costs and Huddersfield also issued him with 'a significant fine' as well as 'extensive educational and community work'. In a statement the club said: 'In our extensive discussions with him, it has been made abundantly clear to Kian that he must now seize the opportunity to rebuild his reputation and to make amends for this unacceptable situation.' He appears to have taken the warning seriously and gave up his hunting dog 'Took me a while to realise but getting out of it now', he told pals on Facebook. 'It's not a long career… need to make as much as I can.' @ Just for the people who have seen the video circling the internet off me throwing a chair 'FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON' 👍🏻 here's the fella who started it all and let me just say he was the worst man you could ever come across and a bully! He was 6,6 and built like a brick! Anyways he was swimming over to young couples while there at chilling and trying to make the lad feel uncomfortable flirting with there girls and all sorts off daft stuff like that! And one off my mates who is only 18 by the way jumped in the pool and started splashing him having a laugh like you do on holiday then it's stopped! After that my mate got out off the pool and the big fella shouted over to him wtf are you looking at so obviously my mates said to him I'm looking at you the fella as then flipped and started walking to my mate and the woman who gets his with the chair is in this video here trying to stop him my pal then goes dancing over to him not expecting the man to punch him…but anyways he hit my pal in the face and dropped him and then proceeded to kick him in the face while he was down👌🏻 the video cut off tho after that obviously like any normal mates would do we've backed him up I tried staying out the way as I don't want the trouble a chair then got lobbed towards me so I picked the chair up and threw it back and it accidentally hit the woman who as you can see went down abit easy but besides that I was very apologetic and I felt terrible, but I'd have felt even worse if we left my mate to get badly beaten up while he's trying to enjoy his holiday I hope this video opens peoples eyes I had to post it cause I've had nothing but abuse all morning and I'm sure this will clear it or so it should 👍🏻 #fyp ♬ original sound - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗧𝘃 - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗧𝘃 Footage initially emerged of the quarrel over the weekend without Harratt being identified One women suddenly dropped to the floor after being walloped by a plastic chair by the striker But the following season Harratt was banned from football for four months while still at Huddersfield after placing 484 bets on matches over a three-year period. That came with a £3,200 fine and 36 of the bets were on Huddersfield games - though he insisted he was not in the matchday squad for any of them. A second criminal conviction followed in 2024 while on loan at Fleetwood Town when he was fined £1,000 by police after he was caught poaching in North Yorkshire. Police were called just before midnight on February 6 to investigate a vehicle being driven suspiciously around Whashton, near Richmond. A short while later Harratt, from Pontefract, and Daniel Luke Dimmock, 34, from Castleford were found carrying large black lamps, and with lurcher-type dogs on slip leads, police said. The men were searched, and their lamps and vehicle seized. They were found guilty of entering land as a trespasser at night with poaching equipment at Harrogate Magistrates Court on December 19 and fined £1,153 each, and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds more in costs and surcharges, according to police. In January - the month after his conviction - Huddersfield agreed to make his loan at Fleetwood Town permanent. In March he dropped into the National League, signing for Oldham where his heroics helped them seal promotion. The criminal convictions - both of which saw him in the dock alongside accomplices from outside football - have gained him a harmful reputation at other clubs. A Football League scout MailOnline: 'As a footballer, Kian has got all the talent to succeed. But as a person, he's a little bit off his head. The 23-year-old English striker signed as an academy scholar at Huddersfield Town in 2018 Oldham - who he only signed for in March - has so far made no comment about the video 'He's the product of his environment, his friendship group and obviously he doesn't see it. 'He's definitely seen as someone who's not fully concentrated on being the best footballer he can be. 'It's a shame and I know for a fact that managers and coaches at teams he has played for have found him extremely frustrating. 'He's got ability but he's got no focus. 'Kian's a football league player, any day of the week, if you look at ability alone. 'So you've got to ask yourself - why is it that he's ended up in non-league football? 'He should never have been in the National League with the ability that he's got. 'When he's at it, he's a handful to play against. But there are too many time when he's not at it because he's distracted.'

UK launched huge operation to find suspected Russian double agent in MI6
UK launched huge operation to find suspected Russian double agent in MI6

The Guardian

time2 hours ago

  • The Guardian

UK launched huge operation to find suspected Russian double agent in MI6

Britain's spy chiefs were forced to launch one of the most sensitive and risky investigations since the cold war over fears a senior officer at the foreign intelligence service MI6 was a double agent for Russia. The extensive hunt for the alleged mole, called Operation Wedlock, was run by MI6's sister agency, MI5, which deployed a team of up to 35 surveillance, planning and desk officers, who travelled across the world. One trip took an entire surveillance team to the Middle East for more than a week, the Guardian has been told, where the officers were put up in a CIA safe house. This trip was particularly hazardous, it's understood, because the officers travelled to the country without the knowledge of its government, and would have been illegal under international law. The investigation is believed to have lasted in one form or another for up to 20 years, but MI5 could not establish whether British intelligence had a mole – raising the possibility that an agent may have got away with spying for Russia. 'We thought we had another Philby on our hands,' said a source, referring to Kim Philby, the infamous MI6 double agent who was part of a group of Britons recruited by the Soviet Union, known as the Cambridge spy ring. MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, is the UK spy agency responsible for overseas intelligence collection and agent handling; MI5, the Security Service, is the domestic intelligence agency that assesses threats to Britain's national security. The MI5 investigation began in the 1990s and is understood to have continued until at least 2015. By then, the officer being targeted by the Wedlock team had left MI6, which employed a staff of 2,500 at the time. The tipoff about the alleged spy came from the CIA in the US, which was convinced a British intelligence official who was working in London had been relaying secrets to Russia. During part of the investigation, Russia's secret intelligence service, the FSB, was being run by Vladimir Putin. A source with close knowledge of the operation said: '[We were told] the target was a Russian spy … The US believed he was leaking information to the Russians. He was suspect 1A. The job was taken more seriously than any other [MI5] was involved in. Wedlock eclipsed them all.' The operation began in the mid-to-late 1990s after the CIA told its counterparts in British intelligence about its concerns. A recently published book, The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB, by the former BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera, references the episode. The book says the CIA was concerned that an MI6 officer had been 'turned by Moscow', but that it was unclear who it was. The Guardian has discovered that the UK identified the alleged spy and a team of MI5 specialists was tasked with following him. The team did not operate from MI5 headquarters at Thames House in Westminster. Such was the sensitivity, the officer who led the surveillance was briefed about the operation in a church, according to a source. Some of those selected to be involved in the operation were initially told they were going on a training exercise, and were only given the terms of reference when they were outside Thames House. The Wedlock surveillance team was based in a building in Wandsworth, south London – close to MI6's riverside building in Vauxhall. The officers operated there under the name of a fake security business. 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The Guardian has been told the team was sent into a country with real passports under false names, with the agents warned that if they were detained for any reason, they were 'on their own … we can't help you'. Such was the concern about the alleged mole, intelligence chiefs considered they had no choice. The man being surveilled was not thought to be working alone, a source said. Two other people, also based in London, were thought to be helping him. The source said Wedlock was a 'highly unusual operation … the longest in recent memory and probably the most expensive'. To have one UK intelligence agency in effect spying on another was extraordinary, the source said. 'MI5 never got the conclusive proof it was looking for,' they added. They said that if it was not him, then potentially MI6 'still has a mole to find'. One concern among those who worked on the operation was that the target, a specialist himself, became aware he was being watched. A Whitehall source declined to comment.

Palestine Action: We're spreading ‘intifada' in prisons
Palestine Action: We're spreading ‘intifada' in prisons

Telegraph

time4 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Palestine Action: We're spreading ‘intifada' in prisons

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