Shane Williams ‘was first to throw punch’, bouncer claims in trial
A BOUNCER accused of attacking rugby star Shane Williams and his friends while ejecting them from a Cardiff nightclub told police he had “acted reasonably and professional in the face of extreme violence”.
Coyote Ugly doormen Dean Flowers, 32, of Clos-y-Carlwm, Thornhill, Cardiff; Haydn Morgan, 42, of Herbert Street, Bridgend; and Dave Wing, 53, of Shearman Place, Grangetown, Cardiff, deny affray at Cardiff Crown Court.
A jury heard on Monday how Shane Williams’ brother Dean was left unconscious after the alleged incident which followed the Wales v South Africa match at the Principality Stadium on December 2 last year.
The former Wales and Ospreys winger was out with his brother and friends Rhodri Williams and Stewart Herbert in Cardiff city centre after the game.
Detective Constable Alexander Jenkins of South Wales Police conducted an interview with Wing after he was arrested.
Wing gave a no-comment interview to police and provided a prepared statement in which he said: “I began working at 1pm yesterday in Cardiff. It was busy, rammed I would describe it. As it was a rugby day the alcohol was flowing and people were euphoric. I had to intervene for public safety reasons and prevent assaults.
“I acted reasonably and professional in the face of extreme violence; some of the doormen I worked with were assaulted. I do not feel I did anything wrong or unlawful.”
A statement was also made by Flowers before he was interviewed by police. He said: “I went over to assist a colleague. He was speaking to the individual involved so I stepped in to calm his friend down. Somehow the instigator ended up on the floor.
“Shane Williams has attacked me from behind to defend his mate, so I started a tussle with him and got sucker-punched by the first individual. My colleague dragged Shane off while me and the first guy ended up on the floor. The rest of the door staff came in and it escalated to the the stairway. On the stairs there was wrestling from both parties. I had Shane restrained and told him to calm down but he had a blank stare and didn’t seem interested.”
Flowers told the court he has been working as a doorman for six years. He worked for RAS rather than at a specific establishment.
Defence barrister Kevin Seal showed CCTV footage to his client Flowers, who said he was called over to the incident by a colleague.
He said because of who Shane Williams was, they decided to eject him and his party through the back door.
He said: “He was not interested in anything I was saying at that time. You can see how much he’s resisting because with two of us we’re struggling to get him down the stairs. I’m constantly saying to him, ‘stop resisting and walk out’ and to behave himself. I am pulling him towards the door, thinking he was going to start walking down the stairs. He goes down two steps on his feet, grabs the bannister and the rest of the way he falls down the stairs.”
Mr Seal asked the defendant: “Did you throw him down the stairs?”
Flowers said: “No and that was not my intention. There’s no way on this planet I would throw anyone down the stairs.”
Flowers was then asked about the