Three visiting rugby players from Northern Ireland have been fined £600 each after a bar room brawl with bouncers in Jaks.

Philip Harold Simpson, aged 50, Christopher Watts, aged 36, and Adam Rodgers, aged 36, all admitted disorderly behaviour on licensed premises.

This replaced initial charges of affray.

All three men were also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs and must pay the amounts forthwith or face up to 45 days in prison.

Prosecuting advocate Sara-Jayne Dodge told the court that the trio were at the Loch Promenade pub on May 26, at 10.55pm.

Rodgers was singing karaoke and was dancing on a stage with his top off.

Security staff asked him to put his top on and to leave the stage, but he refused.

They tried to move him, but he stumbled down and fell into the crowd.

Simpson and Watts said that they had believed he was being assaulted so they had then joined the scene and a brawl was said to have ensued.

The men were removed outside but the fighting continued with Watts throwing a punch at a bouncer and pushing him in the face and neck.

Simpson was seen grabbing a bouncer and acting aggressively.

Rodgers, still topless, was said to have charged around and put another bouncer in a rugby-style hold.

A gathered crowd eventually dispersed but the three men were later arrested at the Palace Hotel.

Ms Dodge applied for an exclusion order banning the trio from the island, saying physical violence had been threatened and used on licensed premises towards door staff.

During an interview, Rodgers said he had consumed six pints and 10 whiskies, and rated himself as a ‘seven out of 10’ when asked how drunk he was.

Watts said that he had drunk pints and Jagerbombs, and also rated himself as a ‘seven out of 10’.

Simpson gave no indication of his level of intoxication.

All three men have no previous convictions.

Rodgers, who lives at Ballymiscaw Road in Holywood, was represented by advocate Peter Taylor, who said that the men had been visiting the island as part of their rugby tour.

Mr Taylor said that Rodgers claimed he had been pushed off the stage and then kicked in the head by a bouncer, causing a chipped tooth.

‘He is still upset at what happened at the hands of the door staff, but he accepts his part was disorderly,’ said the advocate.

Mr Taylor opposed an exclusion order, saying that Rodgers was trying to make contact with children who his grandfather had had here and would like the opportunity to visit them if he was successful in finding them.

Watts, who lives at Clover Hill Park in Belfast, was represented by advocate James Peterson.

Mr Peterson said that his client had become involved after seeing his friend, Rodgers, being taken from the stage, but accepted he should have walked away.

Watts was said to be a business lawyer in Northern Ireland and said he would now have to inform his employer of the court proceedings.

Mr Peterson said that the three men had spent two days in custody since the incident, and opposed an exclusion order saying it would be excessive.

Advocate Helen Lobb appeared for Simpson, who lives at Hillhall Road in Lisburn.

Ms Lobb said that her client had been playing his last game of rugby, as he was retiring, and that the group had arrived here on May 24.

She said that Simpson had been unhappy with how the security staff had handled matters, but accepted there were opportunities for him to disengage and leave.

Simpson was said to be a purchasing manager for a food group.

Ms Lobb said that the offence was not the most serious, and that an exclusion order would be a harsh measure to impose.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood told the men: ‘You’ve arrived on this island as visitors and clearly were all acting under the influence of alcohol.

‘To end up in a brawl within licensed premises is completely unacceptable.

‘Fighting with bouncers  within the premises and outside is behaviour that simply won’t be tolerated.’

No exclusion orders were made.