Man pleads guilty to assaulting Fat Tony in 2024 nightclub incident

Content Warning: This article contains accounts of violence and images that readers may find distressing.

A 37-year-old man has admitted to assaulting Fat Tony during a DJ set at a Margate nightclub in 2024. 

The legendary DJ and podcaster, real name Anthony Marnoch, was knocked unconscious by Zack Bradley in the incident at Lido Leisure Centre in Margate, Kent, in the early hours of December 14, 2024.

According to The Metro, Bradley - who performs under the DJ name Zack Le Nez - punched Fat Tony twice in the face during the last 15 minutes of Tony's set after being asked to leave the DJ booth with a friend.

Fat Tony later told The Standard that Bradley had subjected him to homophobic abuse in the attack, which left him with a fractured eye socket and a broken cheekbone.

“His mate comes up and says: 'What's your problem you fucking queer?’” Tony told Resident Advisor. “I then went back into the booth to get my USB stick and that's the last thing I remember. I was totally knocked out, and I'm told the DJ was trying to stamp on my head while I was unconscious on the floor.”

Bradley was later arrested by Kent Police and charged with grievous bodily harm (GBH). On Monday, January 5, he entered a guilty plea to Canterbury Crown Court. He will be sentenced at a later date.

"Amazing. Good on him. It will go in his favour. It's amazing news, I am really happy," Fat Tony said in response to the guilty plea in a statement given to The Daily Mail following the trail. 

"I'm not happy that somebody is going to prison. But it proves the justice system works," he continues. "It's been a traumatic year. Because I work so much when I go to work, it is always in the back of my mind. It never really goes away."

Tony went on to share that he has hired security as a result of feeling unsafe from the incident, which has come "at a great cost."

"I love my job and love what I do, but it is sad that sometimes I no longer feel safe while playing," he told The Daily Mail. "One side of my face is still affected. Sometimes the muscle in my eye goes a bit weak and makes the squint a bit. Sometimes I get headaches."

"Getting attacked never really came into my mind really. It has made me realise how vulnerable as DJ we are. We are accessible. Situations, whatever they are, do not need to be violent."

[Via The Daily Mail]

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter