Callum Smith punched, headbutted, kicked and stamped on his victim before putting him in a choke hold
11:28, 02 Feb 2026Updated 13:16, 02 Feb 2026
The best friends had gone to the cinema in Haverfordwest(Image: Google Maps)
A boxing coach punched, headbutted, kicked and stamped on his best friend during a trip to the cinema, a court has heard. Callum Smith then put his victim in a choke hold on the floor and told him: “Have you got any last words because I am going to kill you”. After being arrested, the 20-year-old boasted to police that he had “f*cking leathered” his best friend.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court told the defendant that boxing was a disciplined sport and the kind of violence he had meted out at the cinema had nothing to do with it.
Helen Randall, prosecuting, told the court the assault happened on May 25 last year when James and a friend went to the cinema in Haverfordwest.
She said at one stage the friend left the film to speak to his girlfriend on the phone and was followed out of the auditorium by the defendant.
The court heard that words were exchanged between the men – who had previously described themselves as best friends – during which the friend struck the defendant in the face.
The prosecutor said James then removed his arm from the sling it was in and ran at his friend and kicked and punched him to the floor.
The defendant then kicked, punched and stamped on the victim as he lay on the ground before getting on top of him, putting him in a choke hold, and telling him: “Have you got any last words because I am going to kill you”. James then said: “Nobody messes with me”.
The court heard cinema staff called the police and when officers arrived they arrested James at the scene.
He told officers he had taken his sling off and thrown his friend to the floor and then “stamped all over him and I bust his face” and “just kicked the f*** out of him” and “f***ing leathered him”. He made stamping gestures with his feet while telling the officers. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
The court heard the victim was taken to hospital where he was found to be dazed and suffering with memory loss and bruising and swelling to his face and a wound near one eye.
In an impact statement which was read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the victim said he now rarely left his flat and was “a shell of my former self”.
He said he had known James since the age of two and the pair had always been “inseparable”, and he said the worst part of the incident had been the loss of his best friend.
He said the scar he had been left with was a daily reminder of what happened, adding: “If he could do it to me, he could do it to anyone”.
Callum James, of Bush Street, Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding when he appeared in the dock for an adjourned sentencing hearing having been remanded into prison at the earlier hearing. He has no previous convictions.
Stuart John, for James, said it was clear from the contents of the pre-sentence report that the defendant had considered the complainant to be “almost a brother” and he said his client felt shame and remorse for what he’d done.
He said the “life-long friends” had got in an argument which quickly escalated, and he said it was clear that when James spoke to the officers at the scene “he was very much in a rage”.
The advocate said there were a “great deal of positives” in James’ life including a supportive family, and he said spending a week on remand had been a “salutary lesson” for the defendant and that the loss of his liberty had been “extremely traumatic”.
Judge Huw Rees said that, following what seemed to be some “piffling argument” about a girlfriend, the defendant launched a “vicious assault” on his best friend.
He said anyone who kicked or stamped on another person richly deserved detention, and he said he hoped James had learned his lesson from his week in custody.
The judge noted that James was working towards his level one and two amateur boxing training coach qualifications and told him: “This violence has got nothing to do with boxing. Boxing is a disciplined sport. You should have known better.”
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea, James was sentenced to 18 months detention in a young offenders institution, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and a mental health treatment requirement.
He must also do 250 hours of unpaid work in the community. The defendant was also made subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for the next five years.
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