Haverfordwest nightclub bouncer Sam Skinner has re-appeared before Swansea Crown on the second day of his trial for causing actual bodily harm to a customer.

Skinner, 39, is accused of assaulting Ryan Lewis during an alleged incident at the nightclub Eddie Rocks in the early hours of September 5.

The Crown claim that after asking Mr Lewis to leave the premises, Skinner grabbed him around the neck from behind, lifted him forwards and threw him by the neck to the floor where Mr Lewis lapsed into unconsciousness.

But the defendant said his actions were in self-defence as a result of Mr Lewis’s behaviour.

“When I saw him crash over a table in the dance area and fall to the floor I told him it was time to go,” said Sam Skinner. 

“But there was no compliance. I could tell from his body language and his eyes that there would be trouble.”

Skinner, who has worked as a door supervisor for the past eight years, accompanied Mr Lewis to the top of the stairs and escorted him down to the main doors that lead onto the street.

“At the top of the stairs I gave him a chance to calm down and gave him the opportunity to leave under his own steam. But he stopped, put his back to the wall and became more animated.

‘I’m not going’, he told me. ‘I’m going to f*** you up’.

“At that point I was convinced there was more than alcohol in his system.”

And according to Skinner, when they reached the bottom of the stairs, things got worse.

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“The threats were coming thick and fast by now, and I started to pay attention because I though he meant it.

"His last threat was ‘I'm going to f*** you up when we get outside and I’m going to rape your sister’.

“And this was when I believed I was going to get punched or something was going to happened to harm my health.”

Skinner claims he put his left hand over Mr Lewis’ chest to pull him tightly against him.

“And I put my right hand over his face to try and disorientate him. But as soon as I grabbed him he instantly grabbed hold of my hands.

"He was trying to twist to throw me off, but I knew that if I fell to the floor I was going to get hurt.”

Skinner then claimed that Mr Lewis lost his footing and fell to the floor.

“This is when welfare kicks in,” he continued.  “I went towards him but knew he was compos mentis because he told me to f*** off.

“But there was no vulnerability there. It was just aggression. I never felt I acted unreasonably because of the threats that were being made towards me.”

But during his cross-examination, barrister Mr Thomas Scapens accused Skinner of ‘throwing mud’.

“You’re simply throwing mud to try and make him look like a bad person,” he said.

“No”, replied Skinner.  “I was acting on what happened at that particular time.”

At midday this afternoon (Wednesday, June 15), the jury retired for deliberation. The judge, Recorder Felstead, has requested that they deliver a unanimous verdict.

The case continues.