First police officer on scene ‘saw blood on pavement’
APOLICE officer who attended an incident at Coyote Ugly, during which bouncers are accused of attacking rugby star Shane Williams and his friends, said she saw blood on the pavement.
In a statement read out at Cardiff Crown Court, PC Kathryn Williams said she was on patrol in Cardiff city centre on December 2, 2017, when at about 10pm her attention was caught by a man waving urgently across the road.
The man said there was an unconscious man on the ground at the rear of The Philharmonic.
She said: “I could see a male person being attended to by a number of people. He was unresponsive at this time.
“A person was administering first aid and said he worked for the NHS and was a community first responder. I could not see any injury to the male but could see blood on the pavement near his head. I spoke to a man named Rhodri Williams who said the unconscious male was his friend Dean Williams.”
The door staff involved – 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 – all deny affray.
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.
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.
They were drinking at the Coyote Ugly nightclub on St Mary Street just before 10pm when someone approached the group and tried to headbutt Dean Williams. After seeing this incident door staff working at the venue ejected the fourman group from the premises.
Speaking in court yesterday, Mr Herbert told prosecutor Clare Wilks he had been drinking since about 1 to 1.30pm. “I had eight beers maybe,” he said. Mr Herbert said doormen came over after the headbutt attempt and described the situation as “getting intense quickly”.
He said: “The doormen came over and we were ushered towards the fire exit. We hadn’t done anything and this gentleman went to headbutt my friend out of the blue and it felt intense and heavy handed. My main concern was to not get thrown out but to get out as safe as we could.”
Kevin Seal, representing Dean Flowers, asked Mr Herbert about a CCTV clip in which Shane, Dean and Rhodri Williams are heard shouting and swearing at the door staff.
He said: “They wouldn’t be proud of that but they are aggrieved about the way they were ejected.”
Mr Seal added: “You go to a pub, a Wetherspoons, and you carry on drinking there and you go to The Philharmonic and it’s there you meet Rhodri Williams and you have some more to drink there. Why did you leave The Philharmonic?”
Mr Herbert said: “We were asked to leave by door staff there.”
He added that he believed “Shane with all the attention he gets is not always welcome”.
Mr Seal took Mr Herbert through CCTV footage of the incident outside the club.
He said: “Are you trying to hit this doorman?”
The witness said: “Absolutely not at all.” Mr Seal added: “Just so we’re left in no doubt, I am saying to you the actions towards that bouncer are aggressive, you don’t have to accept that. You’re not being a peacemaker, you’re not trying to break things up, you’re getting involved.”
Mr Herbert responded: “What I’m feeling at that point, things have escalated now and my friend (Shane Williams) is against the wall with three thick-set bouncers against him.
“I either stood back or did nothing, or I acted aggressively, which I don’t accept, or I do what the CCTV shows and act in a peaceful way. I believe the CCTV shows I was a peacemaker and trying to defuse the situation.”
The trial continues.