Gwent Police officer accused of biting man is found guilty of unlawful wounding

The jury found Detective Constable Stephen Smith, 33, of Dukestown, Tredegar, not guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was also found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

The judge adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report. Smith will be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, June 23.

DC Smith was on trial charged with assaulting a man outside Brewhouse, in St Mary Street, Cardiff, on March 12 last year as fans flocked to watch the Six Nations England vs Wales clash.

He is accused of biting Jonathan Harris after the pair became involved in an argument and later trying to cover his tracks by sending Facebook messages to himself purporting to be from the other man.

The 33-year-old police officer, who was suspended following these allegations, denies both charges.

Summing up the prosecution evidence, Owen Williams said: "There is no doubt that it was the defendant who caused the laceration to the lip.

"Jonathan Harris told you he accepts he was drunk, loud and vociferous. He accepts he did say some unpleasant things and that he was out of order.

"However, he was also clear he was not aggressive and that he was not threatening."

Williams told the jury at Cardiff Crown Court, they have heard evidence from Adrian Howells, "a sober and independent witness".

"He was a doorman," he continued. "His evidence is that the older and bigger man was the aggressor."

Williams said the CCTV shows the two men coming together because Smith had grabbed Mr Harris by his throat with his left hand.

"Pulling his face towards him, the defendant then bites," he added. "The footage shows a savage attack on Mr Harris.

"What happened is that Mr Smith flipped. This was an unlawful assault, this was not a defensive action."

Williams said the prosecution can't say how the defendant produced the message linked to the perverting the course of justice charge.

He said: "Because of the defendant's actions, the prosecution has been unable to properly examine his Facebook account and examine the validity of the Facebook message.

"He said he wanted to protect himself but that he wanted to preserve the message. He could have done both by deactivating his account, rather than deleting it.

"He didn't do that because he didn't want anyone to be able to access his Facebook account and scrutinise it.

"It is not only the way the message is received that is suspicious, it is the content of the message as well.

"This was a fabricated message.

"You can be sure that he generated this message somehow and that he send it to himself. He did this to exonerate himself from the other two charges."

Summing up the defence case, Andrew Taylor, told the jury at Cardiff Crown Court earlier today that it was a "shame" there isn't sound in the footage.

He also told the jury Harris became "guarded and defensive" when asked about his cocaine use.

He continued: "This is not a young lad experimenting with cocaine for the first time.

"He is a man capable of spending £200 worth of cocaine in one night.

"He never told you whether he had taken cocaine on the night."

Taylor said the police have done a "thorough" job at analysing Smith's devices as they were looking for something that would point towards the hacking of the account.

"They didn't get that information," he added. "There is not one shred of evidence that those devices hacked into any Facebook account.

"The prosecution are trying to convict him on a very serious charge, just one down from attempted murder.

"Mr Smith is a man who has never been involved in a fight and that, when he went out that night, he just wanted to go about his business.

"If you were going to hurt someone, would you have your girlfriend in the crook of your arm? Would you take your girlfriend into the fight or would you want to have both hands free?"

Mr Taylor said the police officer was suspended over these allegations.

"As a police officer, he knew you can't pay people off, that you can't pay your way out of trouble," he said. "My client is a serving police officer and has been for many years.

"He is not looking for trouble, but trouble came to him."

Judge Richard Twomlow told the jury the CCTV is "important" in this case, and that so is the evidence of the doorman because he is an "independent witness".

He told them the first person who gave evidence was Harris, who said there was "blood everywhere" after the alleged attack and that they had to give him stitches in the hospital.

He said Harris told the court the bite was "pretty forceful" and that his lower lip was "hanging".

"He told the court the scar is still there and that money was never on his mind," the judge said. "He said he didn't want Smith to get away with it."

The judge also said Mr Smith told the court he was not an "aggressive drunk".

Proceeding.