Roy 'Chubby' Brown denies hitting woman

The 6ft-plus 65-year-old punched slightly-built Kelly Oliver in the face after he nearly bumped his 4x4 into her grandmother's parked car, Teesside Magistrates' Court heard.

Brown, charged under his real name Royston Vasey, denies common assault last September in Sainsbury's car park in Middlesbrough town centre.

Viviene Turner, prosecuting, said Brown, of The Firs, East Harsley, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, reacted angrily after Miss Oliver watched him reverse within an inch of her grandmother's car. He wound down his window and shouted abuse. Miss Oliver, 5ft 3in tall and seven-and-a-half stone, then claimed Brown got out of his car and hit her. She defended herself before her grandmother came to her aid and Brown drove off.

Ms Turner said Brown claimed Miss Oliver called him a "fat bastard" causing alarm and distress.

She asked the magistrates to consider that even if unpleasantries were exchanged, they were unlikely to cause alarm and distress given Brown's notoriously foul-mouthed stage act.

The court heard Brown admitted in 1996 to common assault against his ex-wife and that Miss Oliver had two cautions relating to violent incidents in 2008.

The case continues.