Thomas Hughes was lured by Faith Smyth, who pretended to take him to visit her grandmother after a trip to McDonald’s
A teenager who was enticed down an alleyway by a girl before being attacked with a frying pan by her ex-boyfriend says he “didn’t think she would be capable of doing what she did”. Faith Smyth pretended to be taking the boy to see her nan following a McDonald’s visit, but was in fact leading him into an ambush.
This resulted in him being threatened with a knife and battered unconscious by Callum Smith and John McCormick, who had been lying in wait for their target. McCormick was even reported to have threatened to torch Smyth’s family home in a bid to coerce her into the scheme.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that, after their relationship ended, McCormick “cajoled, threatened and encouraged” Smyth to entice then 17-year-old Thomas Hughes to Arnot Street in Walton, Liverpool, so he could be robbed by both him and Smith.
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The 20-year-old sent his then partner a message warning he would “blaze her family’s gaff”, adding in a voice note that he “didn’t want to hurt her family” and “knew where every single member of her family was”.
Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, outlined how this led to Smyth, who was then 17 but is now 19, arranging to meet Mr Hughes in Liverpool city centre on February 18, 2024, where they “wandered around” St Johns Shopping Centre before “convincing him to travel to the L4 area, waiting until it was darker”, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The two then visited McDonald’s on County Road before “spinning him a story” that she needed to visit her grandmother in order to borrow money for food.
Smyth, of Melling, had even saved McCormick’s number under the name “nan” in her phone to avoid suspicion as they messaged one another prior to the attack. Shortly before 7pm, she and Mr Hughes entered an alleyway off Arnot Street, where McCormick was waiting and apparently armed with a frying pan alongside Smith, who was carrying a knife.
The teenager attempted to run but was chased, taken to the ground, kicked and beaten and told to empty his pockets while being threatened with the knife, handing over around £40 in cash. He was also said to have been repeatedly hit over the head with the pan, causing him to lose consciousness.
McCormick, of Fenwick Street in the city centre, later posted a video of the assault on social media alongside the caption “hahaha, don’t try and message anyone I’ve been with again”. Smyth tried to pretend she wasn’t involved by sending a voice note to Mr Hughes asking if he was alright.
The teenager was later found injured by a car park attendant, who was on duty during a matchday at nearby Goodison Park. He was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, where a 4cm laceration to the back of his head had to be closed with five staples.
In a statement read to the court on his behalf on Thursday, Mr Hughes said: “Before this happened, I had just started college in September 2023. I was meeting new people, new friends, studying sports coaching and development.
“In February 2024, I was just getting used to college and starting to enjoy myself. I was trusting of people and took them at face value. I did take her at face value and didn’t suspect anything was wrong. I just wanted to see where things would go with her. I had no ulterior motive and thought we could be mates.
“I didn’t initially think anything was wrong, even when she changed the plans to go to another part of Liverpool. I didn’t think she’d be capable of doing what she did to me. She took me to McDonald’s and told me she needed to go and get cash from her nan.
“I struggle to find the words and how shocking I find this. It’s left me wondering why she’d do something like that. What did I do to deserve it? I’m left with the burning question, why me? I wonder, what goes through your heads? What gives you the right to do that to someone?
“I never thought anything like that would happen to me. I thought I was going to die. My scar reminds me of that night. I want to ask each of you why you did this to me. I want you to know, the five words that got me through this were ‘don’t let this define you’. I won’t.”
McCormick’s criminal record shows five convictions for seven offences, including receiving a referral order for assaulting an emergency worker in 2022 and a 15-month imprisonment suspended for two years for possession of MDMA with intent to supply in August 2024. Alex Beevers, defending, said his client maintained he “did not inflict violence with any weapon” but added: “He was 18 at the time. This is clearly a serious offence.
“He is in his 20s now. There appears to have been some modest progress, in my submission. I cannot pray in aid that he has been offence free since, but there has not been a repetition of anything as serious.
“Your honour will appreciate that Mr McCormick has not had a stable life. I hope your honour will accept that he does not seek refuge in that as an excuse. He has been known to a number of organisations throughout his childhood and adolescence. He is a fairly volatile individual who has had a fairly volatile life.
“Clearly, on one hand, he has qualities. He can demonstrate motivation, but the frustrating aspect of his character comes from his implementation of that. He has had a very itinerant lifestyle. He was sleeping in an abandoned taxi. He has had his problems with substance misuse. Ostensibly, he has managed to rid himself of poor influences.”
Smith, of no fixed address, has seven previous convictions for 10 offences, including assaults both before and after the robbery of Mr Hughes. Megan Cox said on the 23-year-old’s behalf: “He clearly was then, and still is now, an immature individual. He had been a daily user of cannabis. He consumed alcohol, and he was suffering with his mental health in the period leading up to this offending.
“He has found that his time in custody has been beneficial to him. He is now abstinent from cannabis and has not consumed any alcohol. He describes himself as being in a much better place mentally at the moment.
“He is waiting to be assigned a job in the prison as a cleaner. He has used this time, really, to try and sort himself out. He is now motivated, in a way that he may not have been previously, to turn his life around on his release.
“Now, having been abstinent of alcohol and drugs, he sees the negative impact that they have had on his life. He also sees the negative effect that his peers have had on his life. His main motivation now is his children. He wants to be a role model to his children and, hopefully, find employment when he is released.”
Smyth has no previous convictions. Her counsel Louise Santamera told the court: “The defendant readily accepts that she played her role. She was not aware that any weapon would be brought to the scene.
“She was living in a hostel and became involved in an abusive relationship, which she says directly led to her becoming involved in this offence. Ms Smyth is very keen to let Mr Hughes know that she is extremely sorry for what she did that night. She is ashamed of herself. She does not intend to repeat the same mistake.
“She is in a very different position today. She is in a stable relationship with her new partner and living at home with her mother, having restored their relationship. It appears to have become a close relationship, which can only strengthen and enhance her chances of going forward and leading a crime free life.”
Smith was found guilty of robbery by a jury following a trial, having admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
McCormick pleaded guilty to robbery and was handed four years and 11 months behind bars. Smyth similarly admitted robbery and was given a 22-month imprisonment suspended for two years with 120 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.
All three also received restraining orders which will prevent them from contacting Mr Hughes for life. Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: “He had no idea that he was walking into a trap. A plan had been hatched a day or so earlier. You, Mr McCormick, upset that your on-off girlfriend, Ms Smyth, had been talking to Mr Hughes, directed her to bring Mr Hughes to a location where you would be waiting.
“It is clear that you were intending to attack and rob him. At this time, you, Mr McCormick, were staying at the address of your close friend, Callum Smith. That evening, you left the address after dark and headed to the alleyway, where it had clearly been arranged that Ms Smyth would bring Mr Hughes.
“You were both armed. There was, it seems, potentially a frying pan, or certainly a weapon with a flat bottom. Also, you, Mr Smith, had a knife with you. The two of you lay in wait for about 10 minutes.
“As Faith Smyth led Mr Hughes to that location, the two of you both emerged. Mr Hughes saw the knife and ran. The two of you males chased him up that alleyway. You both kicked him. He went down.
“You continued to rain multiple blows on him. You, Mr Smith, demanded that he empty his pockets while you continued the attack. While he lay there in a ball, he was struck in the head with what transpired to likely be a frying pain that caused a gash to his head.
“You, Ms Smyth, stood by and watched what happened. You then all fled, leaving an unconscious and bleeding boy on the pavement. It is a matter of luck, rather than design, that the physical injuries were not more serious in this case.
“However, it is not just the physical injuries that make an offence such as this a serious one. It is the emotional impact that it has. At the time, he had just started college. He was a trusting young person.
“His faith in people has been completely undermined. He thought, that evening, in that alleyway, he was going to die. He still has that scar on his head, which he feels every day when he brushes his hair. He had nightmares about seeing that knife. He feels like he has to check over his shoulder.
“He is a courageous young man who, I hope, has a positive future ahead of him. As he has said, he does not intend to let this attack on him define him. I hope that, with the support of his family, he is able to move on from this matter.”
Turning to Smyth, Judge Pierpoint said: “You are somebody who has not been before the courts before. You now show genuine remorse for what you got yourself involved in. But the fact is that you played a very important role in this very serious offence. If it were not for you luring this young man to this attack, it is unlikely that this offence would have taken place.
“You were just 17 at the time. Your life was not stable. You were no longer living at home and had moved into a hostel. It was at that hostel that you met Mr McCormick and began a relationship with him. I accept that your involvement was through some level of coercion and intimidation. However, you still involved yourself in this matter.
“You are somebody, at the time, who was psychologically vulnerable and open to a level of exploitation. That explains why a young woman such as you got yourself involved in what was a serious matter.
“This was your first serious relationship. I hope it is right that, over the last two years or so, you have grown up and been able to reflect on what you got yourself involved in.
“You are now 19. I could send you to young offenders today. No complaint could be made about that. You did play a significant role in the matter. In my judgement, in your case, there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. There is strong mitigation.
“In your case, in my judgement, I can suspend that sentence upon you today. I make it clear that you have been very close to being sentenced to immediate custody today. This is not a soft option. I have given you an opportunity today. I will remember this case. If you breach this, you will be going through that door on the next occasion.”
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