London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Army veteran died after encouraging teen son to hit him in game of 'slaps'

Army veteran died after encouraging teen son to hit him in game of 'slaps'

A dad died after he encouraged his teenage son to hit him during a ‘game of slaps’ that went tragically wrong, an inquest heard.

Army veteran Malcolm Callender, 48, fatally hit his head on the road during ‘horseplay’ with his 19-year-old son Ewan on April 12 last year.

The coroner was told that the ex-soldier, who worked and lived at public school Wellington College in Berkshire, had been drinking with his son at pubs before he started the game by slapping him.

He then stood with his hands behind his back and said to Ewan: ‘Right, you can have your free shot.’

Witnesses said Ewan was not keen on hitting his bigger-built father but wanted to ‘make him proud’.

He was seen clenching his fists outside the Matchbox nightclub in Reading before he delivered the slap which caused his father to reel backwards and hit his head on the road.

As his father lay on the ground, Ewan was heard screaming ‘wake up Dad! Dad I love you!’


The father and son had a ‘strong’ relationship and would often play the game of slaps, the inquest heard


The serving soldier was arrested at the scene, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him for any offence.

CCTV played at the inquest showed Mr Callender senior raise his hand and strike his son, who went to retaliate but instead embraced his father.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Ewan said ‘there was nothing aggressive’ about the slap and that the pair were ‘messing around’.

Kathryn Morrison, Mr Callender’s wife and Ewan’s mother, said in a statement read in court that the slapping between the father and son was a common game they played.

She said: ‘As a family, we would always be messing about with each other and we would be giving each other quick little digs in the ribs which we called “fingers of steel”.


Ewan Callender did not want to slap his bigger-built father but wanted to ‘make him proud’


‘We would wrestle with each other where we would try to grab the other person and take them to the ground. Another game we would play was slaps.

‘When Ewan was about 15 years old, he and Malcolm would progress to try to slap each other around the face. Malcolm would always be winding him up, saying, “you reckon you can take me yet?”

‘Malcolm was very competitive so he would never let Ewan win, he would use it as a reminder that Ewan was not quite big enough yet.

‘After Malcolm passed away I spoke to Ewan about what happened. From what he described, it sounded just like the games that they had been playing together since Ewan was a kid.’

Friend of Ewan’s Luke Key, who was visiting from Birmingham and was on the night out, also told the inquest that the father and son were ‘happy and laughing’ as they played the game.


Malcolm Callender served in the army for 27 years


He said: ‘It is a bit of an Army thing and Ewan and Malcolm had that sort of relationship. He always had a strong relationship with his dad.’

He added that he could see in Ewan’s face ‘that he did not want’ to slap his father and that he got the impression ‘he had something to prove’.

‘Ewan looked up to his dad as he was a higher-up figure in the Army and he wanted to make his dad proud,’ he said.

After hitting his head, Mr Callender senior was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital where he was treated for an acute subdural haemorrhage, but he died in the early hours of the following morning.

The cause of death was given as ‘blunt force trauma to the head’.

A toxicology examination found Mr Callender senior was over twice the drink-drive limit for alcohol but had no other substances in his body.

Mr Wade said he would not reach a conclusion that Mr Callender had died from unlawful killing.

Giving a narrative conclusion, he said the veteran died after ‘consensual horseplay’.

‘I hope the inquest allows some closure,’ he said. ‘I cant begin to imagine the anguish and deep, deep pain the event caused the family.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×