TWO folk festival bouncers who allegedly assaulted restaurant owner Mohammad Arju Miah in a racial attack pleaded not guilty at Chippenham Magistrates Court on Friday.
Paul Ellis, 42, of The Collonade, Mansfield, and Richard Oxspring, 27, from Newbowls Over, in Bowlsover, Derbyshire, were working as security guards at the Chippenham Folk Festival during the May Bank Holiday.
The court was told the two men entered the Taj Mahal restaurant on The Causeway on May 22.
They became abusive towards staff and shouted "you paki bastard". They were also verbally abusive to an Indian businessman on the premises and offered him a fight.
Mr Miah was then punched and a table and chair were used as a weapon, the court heard.
Oxspring was charged with affray, criminal damage and racially aggravated common assault and Ellis was charged with affray.
Magistrates declined jurisdiction and the case will now go to trial at Swindon Crown Court. The two men will appear before magistrates on September 3 for a committal hearing. They have been bailed on the condition that they do not enter Wiltshire.
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