Four men armed themselves with weapons for a confrontation in a cinema car park seemingly sparked by a road rage incident. Carl Moule, Robert Andrews, Scott Evans, and Leigh Heatman brandished weapons including a hammer, knife, and weight training dumbbell as they threatened and chased each other.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court told the men, who are all in their 30s and 40s, that on the night in question they were “grown men acting like kids” – albeit while armed with weapons. He said whatever the rights and wrong of the traffic incident which sparked the seafront confrontation it had been a “disgraceful and potentially dangerous scenario” played out in a public place.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told court heard that at around 10.20pm on May 10 this year the police in Port Talbot received calls from members of the public reporting a disturbance in the car park of the Reel cinema on Aberavon seafront. The court heard witnesses told police there were four men armed with weapons including metal bars and a knife chasing and confronting each other. Mr Pulling said there was no evidence of any physical contact between the defendants and said the incident may best be characterised as “threats and posturing” by the men while carrying weapons.
The court heard officers were deployed to the area and Andrews and Heatman were located on Aberavon prom and arrested while Evans and Moule were found outside Evans’ flat near the cinema. When Moule was searched he was found to be in possession of a bag containing 13 bromazepam tablets. When Heatman’s vehicle was searched officers recovered a metal bar and two lump hammers. The court heard that when Andrew’s flat was searched officers found a dumbbell, three knives, 99 bromazepam tablets, a quantity of cannabis, and four cannabis plants in a grow tent. Officers also recovered a small bag containing four-and-three-quarter tablets of the drug ecstasy but this find did not lead to any charge. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.
In his police interview Andrews said the car park confrontation followed a “road rage incident” earlier the same week and resulting comments made on Facebook. He admitted putting a dumbbell next to his garden wall after being made aware that Evans and Heatman had driven to the area. In his interview Moule said he had spoken to Andrews about the road rage incident and then became aware that two males were “looking” for his friend. He claimed he had found the metal bar on the floor and said he had been acting in defence of his friend. In his interview Heatman gave a prepared statement in which he said the hammers and metal bar found in his vehicle were for work purposes. Evans also gave a prepared statement in which he said he had gone to the area with Heatman in order to “discuss” an earlier road rage incident with the other males.
Carl Moule called the judge ‘a f****** scumbag’
(Image: South Wales Police)
Carl Moule, aged 35, of Penllyn, Cwmavon, had previously pleaded guilty to affray, possession of a knife, possession of an offensive weapon – a metal bar – and possession of bromazepam when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for 52 offences including a robbery committed when he was 16, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and kidnapping – an offence which saw him and an accomplice beating up their victim and bundling him into the boot of a car before driving him away – as well as possession of a knuckleduster and assaulting an emergency worker from 2021.
Robert Andrews, aged 39, of Bevin Avenue, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to affray, possession of an offensive weapon – a weight-training dumbbell – as well as possession of bromazepam, possession of cannabis, and production of cannabis. He has previous convictions for 19 offences including public disorder, theft, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Leigh William Frederick Heatman, aged 43, of Broad Street, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to affray and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a hammer, when he appeared in the dock. He has previous convictions for 108 offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon – a billiard cue – plus public disorder and drugs matters.
Scott Evans, aged 30, of Long Vue Road, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to affray and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a metal bar, when he appeared in the dock alongside the co-defendants He has no previous convictions.
Steven Burnell, for Andrews, said the defendant had spent 225 days on a tagged curfew and said immediate incarceration would likely lead to the loss of the family home. Andrew Evans, for Moule, said the defendant “believes to a degree” that he was justified in acting the way he did on the night in question but appreciates that if he was threatened he should not have taken the law into his own hands. He said Moule had been drinking up to 16 cans of alcohol a day and “self-medicating” but was now taking his medication as directed. Jon Tarrant, for Heatman, said he had known the defendant professionally for a number of years and he said his client sincerely regrets “returning to his old ways and betraying promises made to his mother”. He said Heatman had been on a qualifying tagged curfew for 223 days. Mr Tarrant also represented the defendant Evans and he said in regard to that defendant that he was a father-of-three with no previous convictions who acted as a carer for his father
Judge Paul Thomas KC told the defendants that on the night in question they had been “four grown men acting like kids” with the important exception that they had been in possession of weapons. He said whatever the rights and wrong of the incident which sparked the seafront confrontation it had been a “disgraceful and potentially dangerous scenario” played out in a public place.
With discounts for their guilty pleas Andrews, Evans, and Heatman were each given a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation course. Andrews was also ordered to abide by a three-month curfew and Evans was ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work. The judge warned them: “Do not let me see you again in the next 12 months or it will not end well for you.”
Judge Thomas said Moule’s position was different from his co-defendants because of the fact he had been carrying a knife and because of the contents of the pre-sentence report. He said he was satisfied there was no realistic prospect of rehabilitation at the current time. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Moule was sentenced to 12 months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. As he was taken down to the cells Moule called the judge “a f****** scumbag” and said he had just been “standing up for his children” and would appeal against his sentence. Moule’s advocate asked the judge whether he wanted the defendant brought back into the dock to “purge his contempt” but Judge Thomas said that would not be necessary.
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