Mall guard grabs teen by throat

A SECURITY guard at one of Cardiff’s main shopping centres grabbed a 15-year-old boy by the throat and told him: “Get out or I’ll chuck you out.”

The incident, which happened at St David’s Shopping Centre on Sunday, involved a group of friends.

They had been skateboarding in the city centre and were going for something to eat when they were approached by security officers and asked to leave.

A video of the incident – which has since been posted online – then shows one of the guards grabbing one of the teenagers by the throat.

The security guard has been “suspended with immediate effect”, the centre manager said.

The 15-year-old involved was Luther Small, from Llanrumney, Cardiff. His mother, Carol, said: “Luther doesn’t really want to take things any further. He accepts the guy overreacted but doesn’t want him to be suspended.”

A video of the incident was posted online by Rhayna Mann, whose 15-year-old son, Riley, was also one of the group. Posting the footage to Twitter, she wrote: “Disgusting. Appalling. Shameful.”

Rhayna’s husband, Jason Mann, added: “My son and his friends decided to get food at around 5pm.

“Obviously one of the only places open at that time on a Sunday was St David’s Shopping Centre.

“They went in and took a seat in a café but they were approached by security and told they had to leave.

“They were not misbehaving but were told they had to leave because they had skateboards.

“My son and his friends told the guards they didn’t understand. They hadn’t even skated inside the centre.

“But security kicked them out. They tried their luck at another entrance and the security guards were waiting for them there.”

Mark Nott, centre manager for St David’s Cardiff, said: “We have been made aware of this incident and the security officer involved has been suspended with immediate effect.

“This is not the level of conduct we expect from our officers and we apologise. A full investigation is now taking place.”