Soldier admits attack

A drunken British soldier lashed out at a holidaymaker because the man made an insulting remark about his manhood as he was relieving himself under a tree outside a disco at a Cypriot holiday resort, a court on the island was told yesterday. The claim was made by Tassos Katsikides, the lawyer representing

Roger Bell, 26, from Liverpool, who is serving with the King's Rifles, pleaded guilty to assaulting Barry Ford and his girlfriend, Clare Harbour, outside a disco at Ayia Napa on 2 August. Mr Ford, 23, from London, suffered a broken hand and needed 22 stitches in his face, and Ms Harbour, 22, was left nursing a badly bruised arm. The soldier, who faces a maximum three-year jail term and a pounds 2,000, fine, will be sentenced on Monday.