A Milwall fan, who worked at an exclusive London g

A Milwall fan, who worked at an exclusive London gentleman’s club murdered a bank worker with a plank of wood just because they bumped into eachother, an Old Bailey jury heard today.

Football thug Danny Board, 27, smashed victim Simon Kenworthy, 38, so hard over the head that one witness likened the force of the blow to a cricketer hitting a six.

Board, a caretaker, clashed with a group of Barclays Bank employees having an after-work drink when he was leaving the Red Lion pub in Pall Mall, London on September 3 last year.

After the group swore at him, Board returned with a plank he retrieved from his workplace, the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Club.

‘What seemed to have happened was that the defendant pushed or bumped into Simon Kenworthy and his friends, who didn’t move to one side quickly enough to let them pass,’ said David Waters, QC, prosecuting.

‘It may have been that Kenworthy and his friends expressed themselves in words it was better to avoid.

‘We’re here for a quiet drink so p*** off’ may have been what was said.

‘It was the sort of thing that happens quite frequently in a crowded city like London that is soon forgotten,’ continued Mr Waters.

‘But Board was unwilling to let it go, and gave the impression that he wasn’t prepared to leave it there and was spoiling for a fight.

‘

Board returned to the Oxford and Cambridge club and picked up a ‘two-by-two’ piece of wood ‘for the purpose of attacking these men and any other member of the group who did not get out of the way,’ claimed Mr Waters.

He also called his friend, David Brendan and told him to meet him outside the pub.

‘The defendant walked straight up to the group,’ continued the QC.

‘He held the piece of wood in two hands – ‘like a baseball bat’ was how one person described it – and hit Simon Kenworthy and Stephen Rutherford with sideways swings to the head,’ said Waters.

He struck Mr Kenworthy, with the weapon, ‘which made a sickening noise’ the prosecutor said.

Mr Kenworthy later died of a brain haemorrhage.

Three of the bank workers immediately ran off to safety.

‘But Mr Kenworthy had no chance to run.

He went straight down from the blow and it was immediately obvious that he was badly injured.

‘One witness described the force used as terrible, another as making a sickening noise on impact.

‘

Mr Waters said that as the defendant wielded the plank he shouted:

‘You f***ing bastards.

I’m going to get you, you bunch of f***ing w***er.

‘

Before the attack another of the Barclays Bank party, Rowan Thakra ducked out of the way of the wood coming at his head, and dived to the floor.

He is not sure whether he got a black eye from the attack or the force of hitting the pavement.

‘The defendant, not content with what he’d done, chased the members of the group who’d ran off.

He shouted at them “Do you want some of this?”, the court heard.

The court heard how before the attack Mr Thakra heard Board, a Millwall supporter, loudly talking about his favourite club.

He smiled when he caught the eye of the defendant and the defendant smiled back.

Giving evidence Mr Thakra told how later he watched Board attack the victim with the wood.

He said Board gripped the wood with two hands four inches apart and smashed it over Mr Kenworthy’s head.

‘I heard a loud thud and all I can say is, I play cricket, and if you hit a six with the middle of the bat, that was the force.

Simon screamed out and fell to the floor at which point it was havoc.

‘

Mr Thakra said he looked down and saw a piece of splintered wood on the ground next to Mr Kenworthy.

Realising he had been hit during the incident he ran away to safety.

The court was told Board’s friend David Brendan did what he could by repeatedly shouting to the defendant to calm down.

He tried to get the piece of wood from Board, which had split in two from the force of the blow.

Once the plank had been taken from Board, he ran off and went to ground.

Brendan also ran off in panic, and was soon arrested, but released by police.

Mr Waters added: ‘The defendant will not dispute he was responsible for the unlawful killing.

The prosecution suggest that was not the reality of the situation.

‘If you take a piece of wood and aim it at the head you must intend at the very least to cause some very serious injury.

‘

Mr Kenworthy was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where he was found to have a brain haemorrhage.

He had made good progress initially but by the end of the week, he was transferred to Charing Cross hospital, where he died on September 13.

The day after the attack Board later rang the Oxford and Cambridge club and asked if friend Brendan had turned up for work.

Board was caught when he returned to the club on September 6 and was seen by the club secretary, Gordon Buchanan, who put Board in a taxi and told him to give himself up.

Board told Mr Buchanan: “I had to even the score.

There were six or seven of them.

I took out three of them with a two-by-two.

”

Board, of no fixed address but living in the Harrow area at the time, admits he was responsible for the killing but he denies murder.

He has admitted assault causing actual bodily harm to Kenworthy’s friend Mr Rutherford.

ends