TWO bouncers will go on trial for the alleged kidnap of a man at a music festival who later died.
Paul Wickerson was killed after being struck by several cars about 20 minutes after leaving the Brownstock festival, off Woodham Road, Stow Maries, on Saturday, August 31, last year.
Gregory Maxwell, 32, of Masefield Crescent, Romford, and Brian Atkins, 49, of Gordon Road, Ilford, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday November 3 to plead not guilty to charges of kidnap and false imprisonment.
After an investigation by Essex Police, detectives say Mr Wickerson, a 32-year-old from Australia, had been ejected by security staff and escorted from the site where The Fratellis, Professor Green and Mark Ronson performed.
Mr Wickerson had been visiting friends in Leatherhead, Surrey, and was found two-and-a-half miles away from the festival site in Lower Burnham Road, Cold Norton, near the junction with Fambridge Road.
Mr Maxwell is the operations director of Event Solutions, a security firm employed by Brownstock at the time, and Mr Atkins is a security door supervisor at the company.
Mr Maxwell, who appeared in the dock wearing a grey suit, and Mr Atkins, who wore a black bomber jacket, spoke only to confirm their names and deny the charges.
Both men were bailed to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on May 18, 2015, to face trial.
