Liverpool FC Forum

by **mattylfc** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:40 pm

Taken from BBC Sport:

Premiership footballer Craig Bellamy grabbed a woman by the throat after they bumped into each other at a nightclub, a court heard today.
Cardiff magistrates heard how the Wales and Liverpool striker collided with Sophie Palmer, 19, before grabbing the wrist of her friend Holly Smith, 20.

He followed the pair along the corridor of Cardiff's Number 10 nightclub and grabbed Ms Palmer by the throat.

Mr Bellamy, 27, denies two counts of common assault.

Ms Palmer, now 20, from Barry, near Cardiff, told the court how the incident unfolded on 5 February this year.

She said she encountered Mr Bellamy as she walked along a narrow corridor to the VIP bar followed by two friends.

"I began to walk through the gap and Craig Bellamy was walking in the other direction and he bumped into me. He was quite aggressive, he was just swaggering around," she said.

He grabbed me with both hands around the neck and held me up against the wall and he was squeezing

Sophie Palmer

"I turned around and said to him 'excuse me why couldn't you wait in that gap there'".

She said Mr Bellamy swore at her, saying she too fat to get around and called her a "slag".

Asked how she responded, Ms Palmer said: "I shrugged it off, said 'whatever' and kept walking in the direction I was going."

Soon after she turned around to see her friend Holly Smith "having words" with Mr Bellamy.

"I can't remember if he pushed her or she pushed him first, but they both pushed each other," she said.

Soon after, she told the hearing that the footballer followed her along the corridor.

"He grabbed me with both hands around the neck and held me up against the wall and he was squeezing," she said.

'Pushed'

The next thing she remembers was hearing people shouting "Get him off her," and somebody intervening.

"I pointed him out to the bouncer and said 'that's the guy who just strangled me'," she added.

The court heard how Mr Bellamy's friend and sometime minder Franklin Lynch then grabbed her with both hands and forced her out of the VIP room.

She said he pushed her with both hands until the reached the entrance of the nightclub where he held her by the bottom of the neck.

Mr Lynch, who denies a charge of common assault, was telling door staff to remove her from the nightclub while still holding onto her.

Ms Palmer, who used to work behind the bar at the same nightclub, said doormen calmed Mr Lynch down and he released her.

As a result of her ordeal, she said she suffered bruising to her arms and neck and scarring on her chest from recent surgery started to bleed.

Mike Hammett, prosecuting, told magistrates that when interviewed by officers, Mr Bellamy said he had caught the eye of one of the women at which point she asked him "what he was looking at".

He told officers that he replied: "If I was looking at anyone it would be those two behind you because they are far prettier."

Mr Bellamy then said the girl slapped him and he made a counter complaint to the police.

The trial continues.

by **Rafa D** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:46 pm

mattylfc wrote:"I began to walk through the gap and Craig Bellamy was walking in the other direction and he bumped into me. He was quite aggressive, he was just swaggering around," she said.

He grabbed me with both hands around the neck and held me up against the wall and he was squeezing

She said Mr Bellamy swore at her, saying she too fat to get around and called her a "slag".

Asked how she responded, Ms Palmer said: "I shrugged it off, said 'whatever' and kept walking in the direction I was going."

Right I did not like Bellamy before he came here but:

THIS STATEMENT HERE IS SO FULL OF SHIT!!

It is obviously a lie to cover things, as if someone would just do that and as if she would just walk away thinking "Whatever".

Somethings happened, I think she has tried to get Bellamy's eye or he has tried to pull her and one or the other has said something and it escalated, to make out he is a mad bastard who just grabs people is pathetic.

by **The Manhattan Project** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:17 am

She said Mr Bellamy swore at her, saying she too fat to get around

by **account deleted by request** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:22 am

Craig tried to pull her, she agreed to have a drink with him but told him "no necking." He thought she was calling him no neck, and so he grabbed her round the throat. Simple

by **Lando_Griffin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:49 am

It's obviously all b*llocks.

That "WHat you looking at?" scenario sounds the most likely, with Craig actually saying something like "Not you you ugly bitch" in response.

Wouldn't even have made it passed that had it not been a footballer.

by **112-1077774096** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:26 am

the fact she was out at 18 years old celebrating her new breast enlargments says it all for me really. i think bellamy has just told the truth here to be fair

by **penzance-on-the-kop** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:53 pm

She just wants the money from him basically and came up with some stupid story 10 minutes before the court was in progress!

by **crossy11** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:09 pm

peewee wrote:the fact she was out at 18 years old celebrating her new breast enlargments says it all for me really. i think bellamy has just told the truth here to be fair

I agree with you.

by **Bad Bob** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:11 pm

Well, he's been cleared of all charges so he can focus 100% on his football now!

by **account deleted by request** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 10:10 pm

Craig Bellamy has been found not guilty of committing two counts of common assault in a Cardiff nightclub earlier this year.

The Liverpool and Wales striker was cleared of the charges at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Wednesday following an alleged incident at the 'No 10' nightclub in Cardiff city centre on February 5.

The former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers hit-man was accused of assaulting Sophie Palmer and her friend Holly Smith at the nightclub.

Miss Palmer claimed the 27-year-old grabbed her around the throat and held her against a wall after a heated exchange of words in a corridor at the club.

Miss Smith, meanwhile, accused Bellamy of grabbing her by the wrist at that same nightspot.

Bellamy denied the charges made against him, and after hearing the case against the Premiership star, district judge John Charles felt the striker had no case to answer.

"It was inconsistent to convict you with the serious discrepancies in the prosecution case and the two charges are dismissed," said judge Charles.

Bellamy's friend in 52-year-old Franklin Lynch was also cleared of one count of common assault against Miss Smith.

Despite being found not guilty, Bellamy will not appear for The Reds on Wednesday evening when they host Portsmouth in a midweek Premiership clash at Anfield.

John Charles great player great Judge?

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