Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy grabbed a young woman's arm and
pushed her against a wall following an altercation with her friend
in a nightclub, a court heard on Friday.
Holly Smith, who was 18 at the time of the incident, said the
Liverpool and Wales forward grabbed her when she challenged him for
calling her friend Sophie Palmer fat. She said she later saw
Bellamy grab Miss Palmer by her throat. The alleged incident
happened in the city's No 10 nightclub on February 4, Cardiff
Magistrates' Court heard.
Bellamy, 27, denies assaulting the two women. His friend Franklin
Lynch, 52, of Glan-Y-Mor, Barry, south Wales, denies assaulting
Miss Palmer.
Miss Smith told the court that Bellamy pushed past Sophie, not in
an aggressive manner, but there was a collision between the two.
She said: "Sophie said 'excuse me, don't push past me' or something
along those lines. "The male became slightly more aggressive and
called her a fat slag and asked who she thought she was. He said
'you shouldn't be pushing past me'.
"Following that, Sophie said 'whatever' and carried on walking and
the male called her a f****** t***. "The male continued to walk
past me and I said 'You shouldn't say things like that, it's not
very nice'."
Miss Smith said it was at that point Bellamy became aggressive
towards her. She said: "He grabbed my arm pushing me against the
wall and my body followed." Miss Smith said she then pushed Bellamy
away from her.
She added that shortly afterwards she heard Sophie make a noise: "I
turned around and he had her with his hands around her
throat."
She said she still did not recognise him as Craig Bellamy at this
point, but said he looked familiar. She said the other friend
Katherine Williams tried to separate the pair and she went to try
and find a bouncer.
Miss Smith said that when she returned to the scene, Sophie was not
there. She said the next time she saw her friend was inside the
entrance to the club and Bellamy's friend Lynch was telling the
bouncers to get her out.
Bellamy, 27, called a girl a fat slag.
