More than 800 criminals have been locked up for the worst crimes in Wales over the past year. Every month we feature the people who have been jailed for the most serious crimes in Wales.
In 2024 that included a bully who killed a much-loved father with one punch, a 55-year-old woman who killed a young motorcyclist as she overtook an HGV, and a DJ who filmed himself urinating on a cancer patient. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.
They also include a man who murdered the son of a woman he had just met by stabbing him in the neck and a couple who were jailed after their baby was was subjected to horrific physical abuse. One of the most upsetting cases was the sentencing of intoxicated driver Harley Whiteman who hit and killed a 13-year-old boy who was just standing outside a shop with a group of his friends. Whiteman went back to the scene and tried to prevent people treating Kaylan Hippsley who subsequently died from his injuries in hospital.
During 2023 more than 800 criminals featured in our monthly round-ups of criminals put behind bars for some of the most serious crimes. They included murderers, drug dealers, domestic abusers, paedophiles, dangerous drivers, and other criminals. You can see the worst crimes that were committed here.
January – 61
David Smith
(Image: South Wales Police)
The “bully” killed a much-loved father with one punch which caused him to collapse to the floor and lose consciousness. He confronted the victim after accusing him of stealing a bag of bath bombs from him.
Luke Higgins, 43, died in hospital two days after being assaulted by Smith, 43, in Cardiff in the early hours of September 14. In sickening footage played to the court Mr Higgins could be seen stepping backwards as he was approached by his killer who threw a punch with his left hand which caused his victim to fall to the ground.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard both men were homeless and had been attending the Huggard Centre in Butetown. Smith had stolen bath bombs from a shop but had taken umbrage after Mr Higgins had found them having been left under a seat.
Mandy Pope
(Image: South Wales Police)
The parents of a young motorcyclist killed by Mandy Pope as she overtook a HGV vehicle said they hope his death “haunts” her. His mother said the killer would “never understand the pain, emptiness, and loneliness” she has caused.
Jordan Talbot had turned 21 just days before he was killed by the 55-year-old as both were driving along the A4226 in Barry on November 23, 2021. The collision took place as both were travelling to work with Pope hitting Mr Talbot head-on after pulling into the oncoming lane to overtake an HGV vehicle.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard Mr Talbot suffered “catastrophic injuries” having been thrown from his Honda CB500F into the air and landing on the carriageway. He was later declared dead having never regained consciousness. Read the sentencing here.
Leigh Brookfield
(Image: Wales News Service)
The DJ who filmed himself urinating on a cancer patient was jailed for 14 weeks and ordered to pay compensation. Brookfield’s assault left the elderly victim in tears and “breathless” with shock, Llanelli Magistrates’ Court heard.
He had pleaded guilty to assaulting Peter Barton on Boxing Day in Llanelli Tennis and Squash Club. Mr Barton was standing next to the 40-year-old DJ at the urinals and speaking about his prostate cancer diagnosis when Brookfield said “sorry to hear that bud” and urinated on the back of the victim’s trousers. Brookfield, a regular DJ at Llanelli venues for around 15 years, posted a video of the incident on Snapchat.
Christian Holland
(Image: South Wales Police)
The “arrogant” thug punched a woman in the face and fractured her jaw following a Liam Gallagher concert after pushing into a queue at an ATM. The woman had to have a plate and screws inserted into her jaw and has a permanent scar as a result of the attack.
The 43-year-old wounded Joanna Green outside a Tesco shop in Cardiff Bay on September 16, 2022, after becoming involved in an argument with the victim and her boyfriend. He was captured on camera throwing a number of punches at Ms Green before hitting her jaw with his right hand, which caused her to fall to the ground.
Carly Morris
(Image: South Wales Police)
The nurse was caught on camera picking up a kitchen knife and stabbing her ex-partner twice in the back. She later called the police and falsely reported her victim had tried to attack her.
Morris, 37, wounded her ex-partner Dean Quantick at his home in Merthyr Tydfil on September 18 last year after inflicting stab wounds to his shoulders. At the time of the attack Mr Quantick was on a video call to his new partner after the defendant had got into his bed and refused to leave.
Lee Sheehan
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(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The convicted murder who was out of prison on licence threated to stick a knife into a policeman’s throat and to blow his brains out. Sheehan told the officer he would “make it his life” to track him down and he also mentioned finding the PC’s house and mentioned his partner and child.
Sheehan made the lurid threats while in the back of police van begin transported to custody following his arrest for other matters. The 53-year-old also started chewing at his handcuffs in an apparent attempt to get his hands free.
Darryl Evans
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The “conniving conman” stole £377,000 from friends and associates with bogus promises about investments and big returns on their money, a court has heard. Many of the victims entrusted life savings, pensions, and equity from properties with Darryl Evans who held himself out as a trustworthy financial adviser. He even continued to offend after being arrested and questioned by police by making himself the executor of a will and paying the deceased’s estate into his own bank account.
Sending the 62-year-old defendant to prison for eight years a judge told Evans he was the most “fundamentally dishonest” person he had encountered in his four decades as a barrister and judge. The defendant showed no emotion during the hearing but busied himself making notes on the proceedings.
Rebecca Dunn
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
She set fire to the matrimonial home after the breakdown of the marriage and a court order giving occupancy of the property to her husband. Dunn then claimed she had been the victim of an arson attack and she pointed the finger of blame at her ex.
Dunn maintained her innocence up to a trial but subsequently changed her plea and admitted starting the fire. Sentencing the defendant to 27 months in prison the judge said there was a degree to which the incident had been a “revenge attack” following the ending of the marriage.
Aaron Lacy
(Image: South Wales Police)
The “dangerous and frightening” man assaulted four men over two days and left two of them unconscious and needing treatment in hospital. His then partner also attacked a woman who tried to defend one of the men.
The 34-year-old carried out his first assault at the New Market Tavern pub in Aberdare on May 6 last year when he smacked Anthony Pickard in the mouth causing him to fall into a toilet cubicle. There had been some “history” between the two men but the assault came out of the blue. Mr Pickard needed five or six stitches inside his lip and pain to his back and ribs.
Clinton Davies
(Image: South Wales Police)
The stalker sexually assaulted a woman in a hostel by groping her breast after he had repeatedly sent sexually explicit messages to her over a number of days. He later claimed he had no memory of the assault as he had taken £50 worth of cocaine and drunk 20 pints.
The 55-year-old carried out the assault against his victim at the hostel in Cardiff when he called her into his room on the pretence that he needed her help. Once she did so he unzipped her hoodie and groped her breast over clothing. Read his sentencing here.
Adnan Abdullah
(Image: South Wales Police)
He was running a profitable business selling counterfeit cigarettes and was caught with £40,000 of fake tobacco products in his car. Abdullah’s operation came to light when police pulled over his car and found his vehicle was packed with illicit cigarettes and thousands of pounds in cash.
Swansea Crown Court heard Abdullah was using a number of fake names and identities and is in the UK illegally having twice been deported before returning. He is currently seeking asylum in the UK.
Matthew Edwards
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
He sneaked into a woman’s house in the dead of night and raped her in her bed. The victim said her attacker seemed to “believe he was entitled to my body” and she said her home now feels like a “crime scene”.
Ian Wright, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court the rape occurred in June last year after the victim had gone to bed at around 11pm. After listening to the radio for a while the woman fell asleep only to wake some time later to find Edwards in her room. The court heard the woman, who is in her 60s, “froze in terror” as the intruder got into bed beside her. The 42-year-old defendant then raped the woman, telling her: “I am going to shoot my load”.
You can see the full list of people locked up in January here.
February – 80
Mathew Pickering
(Image: South Wales Police)
He brutally murdered his vulnerable partner and left her body lying on the toilet floor while he went shopping and visited his parents and will now spend at least 17 and a half years behind bars. Pickering beat and strangled Georgina Dowey to death at his home in Neath before putting a black plastic bag over her bloody and bruised face and then set about covering his tracks by sending a text to the dead woman’s phone to make it look like she left the property to go home.
David Clarke
(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
He received a life sentence after repeatedly attacking his wife with a hammer before dousing her in petrol and setting their car alight. Helen Clarke, 77, died of her injuries after being rushed to hospital with serious burns following her husband Clarke’s “brutal and merciless” actions.
Clarke, 80, of Higher Lane, Langland, Swansea, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife of more than 50 years when he previously appeared at Swansea Crown Court in December. During his sentencing the court heard how Clarke sent his son David a message which read “I love you” on the morning of September 22 before the defendant and Mrs Clarke were captured on CCTV leaving their home in Langland, Swansea.
Philip Jones
(Image: South Wales Police)
The father set fire to his house while his children and their friends were inside it. Jones, 56, committed arson at the three-bed terraced property in Chepstow Road in Cwmparc, Treorchy, on the evening of September 6 last year causing £15,000 worth of damage.
He made threats to burn down the house and told his children to get out before he set fire to the living room where the gas meter was located. His son, his daughter, and his daughter’s partner and two friends managed to escape the property and no-one was injured during the incident. Read his sentencing here.
John Harding
(Image: Gwent Police)
The sadistic thug viciously raped one woman in a horrific attack and tied up another woman with tape before threatening to kill her. He left one of his victims unconscious after he stamped on her head and neck.
The 30-year-old, of Newport, committed brutal attacks upon his two victims which left them fearing for their lives. The defendant has a long history of violence committed against women.
A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the first victim was attacked by Harding who threw her to the ground and stood on her head, which caused her to scream in pain. He then dragged her along the floor and kicked and punched her to the side of her head. The defendant then grabbed her throat and put his fist to her head. Read his sentencing here.
Andrew Beckett
When Alana Rossiter first met her now ex-boyfriend Andrew Beckett in early 2021 she said he seemed too good to be true. He offered her the world, spoiled her with gifts, and took her on exciting trips away.
However it didn’t take long for Beckett to show his true colours, proving Ms Rossiter’s initial gut feeling right. The 35-year-old from Aberdare became paranoid, jealous, and controlling. Read how long he was sentenced to here.
Matthew Denyer
(Image: Gwent Police)
The drug dealer was found in possession of MDMA and ketamine when police stopped upon seeing men wearing balaclavas outside his house. He was standing outside his own house holding a knife in his hand.
Denyer, 21, was seen outside his home in Tredegar on September 22 last year along with six men wearing balaclavas. An armed response unit was sent to the scene and the defendant held his hands in the air.
Lindsey Davies
(Image: No credit)
A small shih tzu dog, trained to playfight with larger Staffordshire bull terriers, bit a 12-year-old girl. The same dog had previously attacked a student.
Owner, Davies got the dog, named Marley, from a friend involved in drugs who had trained it to “playfight”. She was supposed to muzzle the dog in public but it had managed to remove it, a court heard. Read her sentencing here.
See the rest of the criminals locked up in February here.
March – 64
James Smith
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
A man with a “fragile ego” murdered the son of a woman he had just met by stabbing him in the neck after the younger man challenged him at his mother’s house.
Judge Daniel Williams condemned James Alan Smith, 36, as he sentenced him to life in prison, telling him that his “cowardly violence” had ended the life of a “precious son, brother, partner and friend”. Read the case here.
Simeon Mayhew and Rhiannon Waters
A baby was subjected to horrific physical abuse at the hands of her parents suffering injuries which medics said were like those seen in high-speed car crashes. The infant was found to have multiple spinal, rib, and leg fractures and would have been crying out in pain and distress during and after the assaults.
Neither of the child’s parents – Mayhew and Waters – admitted causing the terrible injuries but admitted allowing the injuries to happen. Sending them both to prison a judge at Swansea Crown Court told them they lacked the “moral courage” to take responsibility for they did and said the suffering of their baby would be to their “eternal shame”. The court heard the child is now being cared for by others and is doing well.
Owain Hammett-George
The teenager was jailed after he killed two of his friends by crashing into a petrol station in Swansea.
Hammett-George crashed an Alfa Romeo into the Northway Garage in Bishopston in May 2022. Two of his passengers, Kaitlyn Davies and Ben Rogers, both 19, died at the scene while a third passenger, Casey Thomas, then aged 17, sustained serious injuries.
Mohammed Khan
(Image: North Wales Police)
A holidaymaker was left terrified after waking up to find Khan with an axe at the door of a remote holiday home he was staying at in Gwynedd.
Khan, targeted the property where two families were staying during the incident. Police were called to deal with the 36-year-old, who was on drink and drugs, and they had to Taser him so he could be handcuffed.
Prosecutor Alexandra Carrier said four adults and two children had been staying at the remote property and its annexe in Barmouth. Read more here.
Jasper Knox and Danielle Grey
(Image: South Wales Police)
A man was punched to the face and had £300 in cash stolen from his pocket after he was followed down a lane in Swansea by these two. The 47-year-old victim was walking in St Helen’s Road in Swansea at around 7.30am on November 25 last year when Knox and Grey began following him.
The man turned down a lane and, unbeknown to him, was approached from behind by Knox, aged 30, and Grey, aged 35. Prosecution barrister Brian Simpson told Swansea Crown Court that Knox, of Heol Frank, Penlan, Swansea, punched the victim twice before Grey, of Griffith John Street, Waun Wen, Swansea, removed his wallet from his jeans pocket and stole £300 from it. Read their sentence here.
Travis Roberts
(Image: Gwent Police)
He slapped, punched and abused a former partner then used her phone to transfer £300 of her money into his account. Before he attacked the woman Travis Roberts bragged to her about the amount of cocaine he had taken.
Roberts’ barrister told Merthyr Crown Court that the defendant was “deeply ashamed” of his behaviour and said he realises he needs help with his alcohol and drug issues. Sending the defendant down, a judge said there was no realistic prospect of rehabilitation and said the offending was so serious only a sentence of immediate custody was appropriate.
Louis Henry
(Image: South Wales Police)
He controlled and manipulated a woman he met on a dating website and assaulted her by cutting a chunk of her hair off with dog clippers. Henry spent months monitoring the woman’s social media use, continually checked her whereabouts, and persuaded her to hand over tens of thousands of pounds.
Swansea Crown Court heard a statement from the victim in which she said being with the defendant had been an “horrendous” experience which had left her isolated from family and friends. She said in total she had given the defendant £35,000.
John Webb
John Webb, 70, was convicted of rapes and indecent assaults committed in Cardiff more than 20 years ago
(Image: South Wales Police)
The sexual predator was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting two males and a female under the age of 18 more than 20 years ago. He was brought to justice after one of his victims reported the abuse to police in 2019.
The 70-year-old was arrested at his home in Neath after an investigation was launched by the force. A further two victims were also identified and provided statements. All three victims were under the age of 18 at the time of the abuse, which took place in Cardiff in the 1990s. Read his sentence here.
Scott Ball
(Image: South Wales Police)
He racially abused students on a Swansea street then chased them with a knife. Ball told the youngsters to “go back to your own country” before using a racial slur and then producing a lock-knife.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ball has a long history of public disorder and of carrying weapons including knives, a metal bar, and a cosh. The students he abused and chased said the late-night incident left them feeling hurt, frightened, and upset.
Kieron McCormack
(Image: Gwent Police)
The out-of-work mechanic was caught driving with a stash of thousands of pounds’ worth of drugs. McCormack, who had 34 snap-seal bags of cocaine in his underwear, had become a Class A dealer after being laid off.
Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins said police officers on duty in Newport on February 15 spotted a silver Peugeot car being driven in Liberty Grove. “DVLA checks showed the car wasn’t registered to a keeper,” she told the court. “The officers stopped the car and the driver was this defendant. A search of the vehicle showed he had £1,000 in cash on him in various pockets. He told police he’d won the money at a betting shop.” Read the sentence he was given here.
You can see the whole list of people who were locked up in March here.
April – 65
Harley Whiteman
(Image: South Wales Police)
The intoxicated driver hit and killed a 13-year-old boy on the pavement before returning to the scene and drunkenly tried to prevent people from treating him. The “cheeky chappie” suffered multiple fatal injuries as a result of the collision and died days later in hospital.
Teenager Kaylan Hippsley was struck and killed by a Ford Fiesta driven by Harley Whiteman, 19, on Brecon Road, Hirwaun, at around 6.15pm on February 29, as he was standing outside a Co-op store with his friends. He never regained consciousness despite the best efforts of those at the scene as the defendant drove off at speed. Read the family’s heartbreaking victim impact statements here. He later had his sentence increased.
Peter Briody
(Image: South Wales Police)
The husband struck his wife in the face with a pint glass after she found out he had been talking to another woman. The injury left her with cuts to her eyebrow, which required stitches, and swelling to her eye.
Briody, 44, wounded his wife at their home in Barry on June 2 last year after he armed himself with the glass. He was initially given a suspended sentence by the court but it was later discovered he had exposed his penis at a hotel for which he was facing legal proceedings.
Jonathan Jones
(Image: South Wales Police)
He took a kitchen knife to a probation office “for his own personal safety”, a court has heard. Jonathan Jones has a history of carrying knives and weapons in public places going back 20 years.
The defendant’s advocate told Swansea Crown Court his client was appearing in the dock on his 40th birthday and being in prison for that milestone had given him a “degree of objectivity” about his life and made him realise he cannot continue to offend in the way he has been. Jones was sent down for eight months.
Ethan Rich
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The sex offender who targets teenage girls wants to join the elite fighting unit the French Foreign Legion when he is released from prison, a court has heard.
Rich was handed an extended sentence of 12 years and nine months after returning to sexual offending just months after being released from his last prison sentence.
Daniel Adams
(Image: Gwent Police)
The thug poured petrol on his partner and threatened to kill her after beating her up and strangling her. He had previously damaged a number of items in the victim’s home including a microwave, washing machine, and an iPhone.
Adams, 27, of Cwmbran, had been in a relationship with the victim for six years and they have a young child together. On January 28 police received a call at 12.03pm from a stressed-sounding woman who could be heard saying: “Leave me alone Dan” before the call came to an end.
Dexter Davies
(Image: South Wales Police)
The teenager stabbed a man he’d met online 14 times with a kitchen knife then lied that he’d been tricked into thinking his victim was a woman. The reason why Davies carried out the “frenzied attack” on the man he met on the dating site Grindr remains unknown.
Sending the defendant down for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, a judge at Swansea Crown Court told the 18-year-old he was fortunate he was not being sentenced for murder. Davies showed no emotion during the hearing.
Sara Dale
The mum-of-11 repeatedly struck a woman to the face and chest with a metal dog chain as the victim sat in a car outside a pub. Dale believed the woman had been involved in an altercation with one of her daughters earlier that evening and had gone to the pub to confront her about it.
Cardiff Crown Court heard the victim suffered a serious eye injury in the beating as well as extensive bruising and swelling to her face and breasts. The defendant’s barrister said the 41-year-old was “fiercely protective” of her children and her family was shocked by her behaviour. Read the sentencing here.
You can see the full list for April here.
May – 63
Bernard McDonagh and Ann McDonagh
Bernard McDonagh and his wife Ann McDonagh were jailed after fleeing from restaurants without paying
(Image: South Wales Police)
The couple who ran up large bills in restaurants then made off without paying have been jailed. Bernard McDonagh and Ann McDonagh targeted five restaurants across Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Porthcawl in a spree of so called “dine and dash” incidents.
In total the couple, from Sandfields in Port Talbot, ate food worth more than £1,000 from the establishments before walking away. They were identified after CCTV images were posted online by frustrated business owners. See the moment they were arrested here.
Katherine Hill
(Image: WNS)
The “thoroughly dishonest” mother who stole her daughters’ £50,000 inheritance was jailed for 30 months. A judge said the 53-year-old former bank employee’s actions had been driven by spite towards her children and that she had used the money as a weapon against the girls.
Katherine Hill’s daughters had been left the cash by their grandmother which was to be held in trust until they turned 25 but the defendant plundered the bank account with the help of her elderly father Gerald who she recruited to be her “patsy” in the fraud.
Daniel Popescu
(Image: South Wales Police)
He tried to murder the mother of his unborn child and will serve up to 17 years and four months in jail. Popescu armed himself with a large knife and stabbed the woman at least five times before a passer-by’s screams caused him to flee.
Armed police attended the scene at Coronation Place in Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, following the stabbing at around 9.10am on December 5 last year. Nearby schools and community centres were locked down for hours as police launched a manhunt, which resulted in the arrest of Popescu, a 29-year-old of no fixed address. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and stalking.
Michael Stannard
(Image: South Wales Police)
He throttled his new partner, trashed her flat and broke her phone in what a judge labelled “outrageous” behaviour. Stannard’s victim had to flee the situation after he squeezed the woman’s throat with such force she struggled to breathe.
Sending the father-of-three to prison, a judge at Swansea Crown Court told him he had behaved in an “outrageous way” towards the woman. And he said the courts always regarded the act of strangulation as serious because of the inherent dangers in one person taking another by the throat.
Christopher Mario Welke
(Image: South Wales Police)
The drug dealer was caught with boxes containing thousands of pills just weeks after getting out of prison where he had been serving a sentence for previous dealing. Welke ran off after police saw him carrying out a suspected drugs deal outside Neath railway station but was found hiding in a yard behind a nearby Wetherspoons pub.
Swansea Crown Court heard that less than two months before behind found with the haul of tablets the defendant had been released on licence part-way through a custodial sentence for selling Valium in a town centre park. The court heard Welke has more than 200 previous offences on his record
Jamie Davidge
(Image: South Wales Police)
He pushed his friend down the stairs of the supported living accommodation where they lived following a drunken argument on his birthday. He left the victim with a black eye and was discovered after the assault was captured on CCTV.
Davidge, 48, had been drinking with Richard Jones at the flats in Abercynon where they lived on March 2. A support worker at the accommodation witnessed the defendant and the victim arguing and acting aggressively and threatening each other.
See the full list of criminals locked up in May here.
June – 66
Marcus Falzon
(Image: South Wales Police)
This driver had been drinking and had taken drugs when he left a grandmother with catastrophic and life-changing injuries after crashing into her. He fled the scene as she was left unconscious on the road having sustained a serious brain injury.
Falzon, 32, took his partner’s Nissan Qashqai, despite not having a driving licence, while intoxicated and hit Sharon Warren, 60, in Cardiff in the early hours of March 3. She was unresponsive as passersby and paramedics came to her aid and remains in hospital as a result of her injuries.
Liam Stimpson
(Image: South Wales Police)
He brutally attacked a homeless woman in Cardiff city centre before forcing her to strip naked then filmed himself raping her. Stimpson physically beat her and after raping her tripped her up, punched her, and kicked her to the head.
Stimpson, 24, encountered his victim after he had gone out to celebrate his birthday. He was said to have utterly degraded and humiliated her and a court heard he stole “her last ounce of dignity”.
Jonathon Stapleton
(Image: Dfyfed-Powys Police)
The former serviceman knocked his partner to the floor and put his foot on her throat while scrolling through her phone to check who she had been talking to. Stapleton later forced the woman to change her bloodied top and appear at a window to tell police she was okay – but officers realised something was wrong and called for armed backup.
Daniel Franks
(Image: South Wales Police)
He went out night after night looking for things to steal from parked cars. Over the space of a fortnight Franks stole a haul of items from cash, wallets, and bank cards to packets of crisps, power tools, and even an urn of ashes.
The defendant has 35 previous thefts on his record, the vast majority of which involve stealing from vehicles, and at the time of his most recent spree was out of prison on licence after being jailed for burglary and thefts from cars. He was identified as the person responsible for the new offending thanks to the police’s facial recognition technology.
Sheldon Meaker
(Image: South Wales Police)
A gang of burglars from the Bristol area travelled to Wales to raid a farm and steal off-road bikes. Meaker was one of three who equipped themselves with masks, gloves, and bolt cutters and crossed the border in a stolen van.
Swansea Crown Court heard the trio were caught red-handed stealing a scrambler motorbike from a shed in the early hours of the morning. One was caught at the farm, one ended up getting stuck under the farmer’s pickup truck after fleeing on one of the stolen machines, and one made good his escape on foot over the fields. A judge said the raid had clearly been planned with the trio travelling more than 60 miles to target the farm.
Steven Williams
(Image: South Wales Police)
The shoplifter stole more than £2,400 worth of goods from shops in Swansea city centre during a relentless spree of offending. Williams carried out more than two dozen raids in a three-month period – even continuing his thieving after being arrested, charged, and bailed to appear in court in connection with some of the incidents.
Husain Ahmed
(Image: South Wales Police)
A group of armed males carried out a violent invasion of a family house during which threats of rape were made, a court heard. Two of the intruders had travelled from London to Swansea before seeking out their victim’s home and bursting in.
Swansea Crown Court heard the man the group were looking for was not at home but his sisters and mother were and the gang – who were armed with a large knife, a hammer, and a crowbar – proceeded to smash up the house and issue threats before fleeing. Sending intruder Ahmed down a judge told them they had issued “vile” threats and caused “gratuitous” damage to the house.
Patrick Doyle
(Image: South Wales Police)
He took advantage of a pensioner who was lying in the garden in pain with a suspected broken hip to burgle her flat. Doyle went into the woman’s home while she was waiting for paramedics and rifled through cupboards and drawers looking for things to steal and then burgled a neighbouring flat too.
Swansea Crown Court heard 37-year-old Doyle has 85 previous offences on his record including numerous thefts as well as burglaries and handling stolen goods. Sending him to prison a judge told the defendant he had taken advantage of the situation he found himself in to burgle the homes of two pensioners.
Billy Price
(Image: Gwent Police)
He threatened his neighbour with a loaded sawn-off shotgun before homemade petrol bombs and an array of weapons were found in his house. Price, 46, of Mersey Walk, Bettws, Newport, was seen chasing his neighbour with a gun by another neighbour last August.
The onlooker dialled 999 as Price approached his neighbour shouting at him and brandishing the gun. Price had “something of a difficult relationship” with the neighbour he was chasing and said he had been playing music too loud, prosecutor Clare Wilks told the court.
Aaron Ridgeway, Abbas Al-Sulaimawi, and Yannick Sheehan
The dealers were supplying a range of illegal drugs to users via an online service they called “Popty Ping”. The pushers were offering drugs including cocaine, ketamine, cannabis, and ecstasy with the tagline: “Everything that’ll get you popping and pinging”.
The operation came crashing down after a “runner” was caught red-handed with ready-to-supply cocaine deals in his underpants and police inquires led back to the men in charge of the dealing. The Popty Ping gang has been sent down with a judge telling them drugs bring misery to users and to communities.
Robert Bevan
(Image: South Wales Police)
The sex offender spent years going to schools, parks, and children’s parties after lying to police about his domestic arrangements. Lorry driver Bevan is subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order designed to limit his access to children but for years went about normal family life apparently without any of the other parents he came into contact with being aware of his past.
Connor Jay McLachlan
(Image: South Wales Police)
The 28-year-old, from Port Talbot, crushed his victim’s self-esteem so much that she was convinced he would be acquitted of all charges against him. Instead he was found guilty at Swansea Crown Court of 11 charges against her ranging from damaging her property to rape. Read the case here.
See the full list of criminals locked up in June here.
July – 53
Cameron Jones
(Image: South Wales Police)
The disqualified driver killed his partner when he crashed while racing on a wet residential road at “motorway speeds”. As Demi Mabbitt lay unconscious and gravely injured at the roadside Jones callously used her phone to call the police and falsely claim she had been the one driving. He then collected his bag from the smashed car and ran away.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Jones had only been out of prison for 30 days at the time of the crash and was at the wheel of a powerful car with two virtually bald tyres and windows so heavily tinted they were dangerous. Sending the 30-year-old to prison a judge told Jones his decision to flee the scene and leave his obviously seriously injured partner alone in the rain was “inhuman” and an act of “total cowardice”.
Neil Foden
(Image: North Wales Police)
The former head teacher was jailed for 17 years after being found guilty of sexually abusing four girls. Foden, 66, from Old Colwyn in Conwy county, was convicted after trial of 19 charges in May. He had been head teacher at Ysgol Friars in Bangor and was strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle secondary school in Penygroes.
Foden was convicted of 12 counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust, causing or inciting child sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child, and sexual assault of a child.
Dean Hare
(Image: South Wales Police)
A man who planned to teach a teenager a lesson by holding a combat knife to his throat ended up inadvertently stabbing the youngster in the back. David Hare lost his temper with the teen after “banter” between the pair got out of hand, with the youngster making comments about the defendant’s sexual performance levels, and the pair ended up scuffling outside a block of flats in Swansea.
Alisha Anwar
(Image: North Wales Police)
Alisha Anwar had a grudge against her mother-in-law and hired a man to set her car ablaze. The night-time fire in a car park spread to two other vehicles and a building.
Mold Crown Court heard that the 29-yearold felt her mother-in-law didn’t consider her “good enough” for her son. As a result she paid Luke Williams, 25, to ignite the vehicle at a block of flats in Wrexham.
Saswal Abdullah
(Image: South Wales Police)
The “number two” figure in a Cardiff drug gang has been jailed for more than a decade. Abdullah was the “right-hand man” of Luke Mattan in an operation that supplied 12kg of cocaine.
Mattan ran the gang alongside Abdullah while working with the leader of another drug ring, Craig Anthony from Porth, who himself was involved in some 65kg of cocaine – worth up to £6.6m – being transported from Liverpool to south Wales.
Edison Cenaj
(Image: Gwent Police)
The cannabis gardener was found to be tending to plants worth up to £85,000 at a residential house. More than 120 cannabis plants were discovered by police.
Officers executed a search warrant at a property in Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, on April 12. Cenaj, 21, identified himself at the scene and told police he was an Albanian national.
Rhys Norman
(Image: South Wales Police)
The thug bit and punched his partner in his home in a vicious assault which left him in hospital with serious injuries. Among the injuries the victim suffered was a broken nose and a back injury after falling down the stairs.
Norman, 35, assaulted his partner at the victim’s home in Maesteg, Bridgend, on February 7. During the attack he bit the victim on the nose and punched him in the face.
See the full list locked up in July here.
August – 45
Steven Chappell
(Image: South Wales Police)
He kicked and punched a pubgoer in a fatal attack while his victim lay defenceless on the floor. Chappell, 29, was acquitted of murdering Daniel Bradley following a trial last month, but found guilty of manslaughter.
In the early hours of September 9, 2023 Mr Bradley was walking down a lane near the New Brogden pub in New Road, Porthcawl, when he was assaulted twice by Chappell. Mr Bradley had been drinking in the pub that evening and was described as “his normal self”, joking and dancing around. Witnesses said that while in the lane by the pub, Chappell had accused Mr Bradley of owing him money. Read the sentencing here.
Royston Underwood
(Image: South Wales Police)
He had been out of prison for just one day after serving seven years in prison for a stabbing and took a screwdriver into a Swansea nightclub and threatened to slit the throat of bouncers. Underwood was then aggressive with police who tried to arrest him and had to be Tasered before spitting in the face of an officer.
Underwood would later tell police he had been so intoxicated on the night in question he had no memory of the events in the bar, nor of being Tasered and cuffed and assaulting an officer. Sending the defendant back to prison a judge said he was satisfied Underwood should be considered a dangerous offender and given an extended sentence.
Richard Williams
(Image: North Wales Police)
He encouraged people to start a riot and became the first person from Wales to be convicted following recent disorder across the UK. Williams, 34, of Ewloe, Flintshire, posted on social media about taking part in a riot and shared a derogatory meme about migrants in a local Facebook group dedicated to protests, Mold Magistrates’ Court heard.
Williams pleaded guilty to one count of sending menacing messages via a public communication network. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. It comes as hundreds of people gathered for a major anti-fascist protest in Cardiff.
Sydney Black
(Image: South Wales Police)
He punched a woman in the face, put her in a headlock, and pushed her off a first-floor balcony after they smoked crack cocaine together. Black was arrested during the early hours of April 28 this year after he punched the victim several times to the face at around 11.30pm the previous evening at her home in the Blaenymaes area of Swansea.
She contacted a neighbour who in turn contacted police and Black, aged 38, was arrested. However he was released on bail and just two days later, on April 30, he was again spending time alone with the victim. F
Paula Clutton
(Image: North Wales Police)
She had a court order prohibiting her from using threatening or abusive language but was jailed after she swore at a staff during a visit to a Welsh pub. Clutton had been made subject to a criminal behaviour order (CBO) in January last year because of her bad behaviour.
The 42 year old told staff they couldn’t “f****** tell me what to do” and that it was “f****** ridiculous” when they told here that they could not serve her because she was intoxicated, slurring her words and unsteady on her feet at 4.30pm on July 24.
Callum Williams
(Image: North Wales Police)
He was jailed for strangling a female police officer who went to a house to check on a child’s welfare. Williams, 26, of Coed Efa, New Broughton, Wrexham, appeared before Mold Crown Court on Thursday, August 8, where he was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
He admitted a charge of intentional strangulation following an incident on March 16, 2024 after officers were called to a report of a concern for a child at an address. Williams became aggressive and following an altercation, he put his arm around an officer’s neck, gripping tightly.
Paul Chesher
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The man in his 60s messaged what he believed was a 12-year-old schoolgirl online and asked her to masturbate herself and send him photographs. Chesher was messaging the ‘girl’ via an online app while using a false name. He told the recipient he was 56, that she was “too young” for him and that “you are going to get me in trouble”.
However, he still continued to message her, sometimes several times without reply. Over a four-day period he messaged 22 times before he received a response. Read his sentencing here.
See the full list of criminals locked up in August here.
September – 75
Kieran Carter
(Image: South Wales Police)
The murderer stabbed a man who owed him a drug debt four times in the leg and left him to bleed to death. He then fled to a hospital across the border in a bid to evade justice.
Carter, 22, brutally murdered father-of-four Daniel Rae, 30, at his home in Treforest, Pontypridd, on December 17 last year. He barged into Mr Rae’s bedroom before launching a “frenzied attack” with a knife, stabbing his victim in the leg and causing a fatal injury. Read his sentence here.
Savannah Roberts
(Image: South Wales Police)
The 27-year-old woman was jailed after the car she was driving hit a cyclist. She left her victim begging for pain on the side of the road. He later needed to have his leg amputated.
Roberts, from Penarth, sold her car in an attempt to cover up her role in the incident, which happened in the early hours of Friday, August 5, 2022, police said.
Leo Payne
(Image: South Wales Police)
This is the face of a sexual predator who lingered around the streets of Swansea looking for women to rape. In the space of an hour Payne, 20, attacked and tried to rape two women as they walked through the city centre, as well as sexually assaulting one of his victims.
During the course of his offending, Payne pursued a number of other woman, walked around with his trousers down exposing himself, and performed a sex act in front of witnesses on a busy road. The defendant went on to assault a man with a bottle after the member of the public challenged him on his behaviour towards a female. Read his sentence here.
Vincent Brown
(Image: South Wales Police)
The homeless man spat at and bit people at a hospital after he refused to remove his wheelchair from an ambulance parking bay. He went on to to spit at a police officer and racially abused him.
Brown, 61, went to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on May 28 where he was causing issues with entry barriers. Two men went to speak with the defendant but he refused to listen to them and assaulted them.
Christopher Moore
(Image: South Wales Police)
Horrifying messages were left on a woman’s phone from her daughter’s boyfriend who threatened to stab her daughter in the throat with a Stanley knife. He told her he would attack anyone he came into contact with and people in her home should “run to the hills” if they wanted to stay alive.
Moore, 39, of Cardiff, sent two voice messages to his partner’s mother on April 27 in which he made explicit and repeated threats to kill and harm various people, including his partner.
Darryl Baldwin-Skeet
(Image: South Wales Police)
The rogue gardener fleeced customers out of more than £20,000 and left them with dodgy and uncompleted work. He gained work after providing photos of previous jobs which turned out to be fake.
Serial fraudster Baldwin-Skeet, 41, of Pontyclun, was trading under the name Diamond Groundworks Landscaping when he accepted gardening work on behalf of two couples in 2022. He left the jobs largely incomplete and the majority of the work carried out was unsafe and had to be replaced.
Drugs gang
(Top left to right) Kerry Evans, Lloyd Jones, Jason Flannigan. (Middle left to right) Ricky Griffiths, Christopher Wray, Alex Davies. (Bottom left to right) Claire James, Leon Owen, Asim Syed.
(Image: Tarian)
The organised crime gang was involved in a conspiracy to supply up to £72m worth of heroin and cocaine transported into south Wales. On one occasion, a member of the gang was found in possession of 5kg of heroin after delivering the cash in a crane.
Kerry Evans, 35, of Merthyr Tydfil, was the “orchestrator” of the enterprise which involved drug dealing on an almost industrial scale with huge amounts of money involved. Speaking at a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, prosecutor Andrew Jones said: “It involved various people in different roles, at different points of time, and geographic locations, who came together to engage in drug dealing on a colossal scale and vast amounts of money.”
See the full list of criminals locked up in September here.
October – 81
Ashley Davies
(Image: South Wales Police)
The “barbaric” murderer stabbed a lifelong friend to death, knifing him through the lung and heart then texting him a taunting message saying: “Better luck next time”. The victim died from a single knife wound to the right side of his chest measuring 12cm.
Davies, 30, was convicted of the murder of Conall Evans, 30, who was found seriously injured near the Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda Hospital car park in Tonypandy in the early hours of New Year’s Day this year. Davies, of Forge Road, Pentre, was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of murder and possession of a bladed article. The powerful words of murdered man’s sister
Huw Orphan
(Image: Gwent Police)
The serving police officer kicked his wife down the stairs of their home during an argument and caused her to suffer a fractured spine. He had assaulted her on an earlier occasion when he pushed her to the floor and she hit her head on a piece of furniture.
Orphan, 32, was a constable with Gwent Police when he first assaulted his wife at their home in Newport in January, 2020. They had married in 2019 but their relationship had deteriorated to the point where they were regularly arguing over trivial matters.
Benjamin Guiver
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The “violent and dangerous man” entered a Pembrokeshire home at random and savagely attacked a woman by punching her, banging her head against a radiator, sexually assaulting her, strangling her and telling her that he was going to kill her.
Guiver, 35, entered the property in the Goodwick area on the evening of May 24 this year. He had already entered other properties that evening. His victim was asleep on the sofa inside her house and awoke to find Guiver kneeling by her side. She asked the intruder who he was and he replied “I’m Benjamin”. Read his sentencing here.
Geraint Boyce
(Image: South Wales Police)
The plumber intended to stir up religious hatred after posting “F*** Islam” and “I’m ready for war” on Facebook in the wake of alleged murders in Southport. He also posted a message which stated: “Burn all the mosques down with all the b******* inside”.
Boyce, 43, of Tonyrefail, posted a number of disgusting messages on Facebook following the death of three girls in Southport on July 29 and subsequent riots in cities across the UK. The messages were considered to be a “call to action” and were anti-Islam in nature.
Daniel Hatcher
(Image: South Wales Police)
A woman experienced “the stuff of nightmares” after a man barged into her home and tried to forcibly kiss her as her children looked on. He initially claimed he was homeless and wanted pizza and a cup of tea but he went on to sexually assault the victim.
Hatcher, 34, attended a stranger’s home in Cardiff last year and a woman answered the door. He claimed he had provided gardening services to the previous tenant and asked if she needed gardening work done but she declined.
Jonathan Price
(Image: South Wales Police)
The drugged-up man who had taken crack cocaine, strangled a police officer and assaulted another after they refused him a cigarette. He also spat at one of the officers and called her a “pig”.
Price, 43, was involved in a “disturbance” at a shopping centre in Merthyr Tydfil on August 15 which resulted in the police being called. Two officers attended and spoke to the defendant but it was apparent he was intoxicated.
Michael Owen Williams
(Image: North Wales Police)
Williams was Jailed after racially abusing a woman who was with her children in Caernarfon. Williams, of Dolfor, Pwllheli, appeared at Mold Crown Court after admitting racially aggravated harassment and breaching a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO).
A North Wales Police statement said: “On August 9th, a woman was at Caernarfon bus station with her children when 36-year-old Williams approached her and began racially abusing her unprovoked. He began shouting at her to ‘go back where you came from’ and telling her ‘you don’t belong here’, leaving the woman and her children feeling very distressed and upset.
David Martin
(Image: South Wales Police)
The serial car thief was caught on CCTV taking and driving a Ford Transit minibus before stopping to change its number plate. He also stole items from inside a rucksack in the van.
Martin, 40, took the van from a street in Porth, Rhondda, on August 15, with the assistance of another man. The driver of the van had locked the vehicle so entry was forced.
Jack Slater
(Image: South Wales Police)
The young drug dealer was found to be dealing cocaine and cannabis after his mother called the police when she found a package of white powder. His phone was seized and a number of messages with customers asking for drugs was discovered.
Slater, 23, was visited by officers at his home after they were contacted by his mother who was concerned at finding 2kg of white powder in his room. Examination of the powder later revealed it was not an illicit drug but messages on his phone revealed he was dealing drugs.
See the full list of criminals locked up in October here.
November – 93
David Sisman
(Image: Gwent Police)
The killer drove a “large, Rambo-style knife” into the chest of an unarmed man will serve a minimum of 24 years behind bars. Sisman, 21, stabbed unarmed Lee Crewe, 36, in Newport in broad daylight.
The murder occurred shortly before 6pm on May 14 in Chepstow Road, Maindee, when Mr Crewe was attacked by Sisman. The defendant admitted that he fatally knifed Mr Crewe – and that at the time he was selling drugs and carrying a knife in public – but he pleaded not guilty to murder on the basis of self-defence.
Darren Brown
(Image: South Wales Police)
The former town councillor who stabbed his then-wife three times while their two children were in the house was jailed for 18 years for attempting to kill her. Brown, 35, who was a Bridgend town councillor for the Morfa ward, stabbed his wife Corinne Brown three times in the back with a knife he’d taken from the kitchen in a rage after the pair had argued about Ms Brown’s new partner at the family home in Wildmill, Bridgend.
While the couple still lived together at the time they had separated and Brown had become jealous of Ms Brown and her new partner Elliott Gore. On July 10, 2023, the two were arguing in the upstairs of their home when Ms Brown told Brown to get out of her life which he took exception to. Brown, who told the court at a trial that he was worried he would lose his family, then went downstairs and took a knife from the kitchen.
John Stringer
(Image: South Wales Police)
The sexual abuse of a young girl by the then serving police officer left her planning to end her own life. She wrote letters to her family apologising but stating she was in “too much pain”.
Stringer, 43, a former officer with Gwent Police, initially showed his victim a pornographic image of a woman engaging in a sexual act. He went on to tell the girl to mimic the woman in the video, despite her telling him she didn’t want to do it. Read his sentencing here.
Tia Griffiths, Anne Hicks, Geraint Evans
(Image: South Wales Police)
A woman described as a “surrogate daughter” by her victim broke into her home with another woman and a man and viciously beat her before holding a knife to her throat. The victim was left bleeding and begging for the attack to stop, as she was punched and kicked by the two women, before the man took a phone and bag.
Griffiths, 38, broke into the home of Lesley Knott in Aberdare on May 10, accompanied by Hicks, 48, and Evans, 43, and launched a terrifying assault. Ms Knott had known Griffiths for 14 years and described her as a “surrogate daughter” who she allowed to live with her for a period of time. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here.
Roger Brenninkmeyer
(Image: North Wales Police)
He was driving at almost 100mph when he crashed into another car and killed a “caring and gentle” 20-year-old drive. The incident happened on the afternoon of June 4, 2002, near Pwllheli.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard that Brenninkmeyer’s BMW had hit an embankment on a rural road, overturned, collided with the victim’s car and spun into a field, stopping 99 metres away. Droy Darrock-York died in the collision, reports North Wales Live. A woman who brought him up from the age of four told the court: “The world is a darker place without Droy. He was the sunshine to my day.”
Daniel Niinemae
(Image: Counter Terrorism Policing, Cymru)
A Welsh dad was caught with a bombmaking manual and exchanged vile messages such as “black lives don’t matter” with another convicted terrorist. Niinemae, from Risca in Caerphilly county, was on a path to a “devastating” attack, a court heard.
At Winchester Crown Court, Judge Brian Forster KC said the 42-year-old came to the attention of police during an investigation into another person convicted of serious terrorism offences. In September last year police searched the hostel where Niinemae was staying and found the publication in his room.
Alison Cooper
(Image: Cheshire Constabulary)
The 60-year-old woman was jailed for 40 months for causing the death of an “amazing” North Wales dad. Cooper from Badger Brow Road,. in Loggerheads, pleaded guilty to causing Chris Parson’s death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing and was imprisoned at Chester Crown Court.
The fatal crash occurred in June 2022 on the A500 in Barthomley, Cheshire. Cooper was driving her red Ford Fiesta home from work when she braked harshly causing Mr Parsons, 29, to take evasive action, the court heard.
See the full list of criminals locked up in November here.
December – 62
Rebekah Edwards
(Image: South Wales Police)
The mother of a police officer who sexually abused hundreds of children online hid phones that police were looking for during their investigation. One of the phones was buried in a garden in the grave of a cat.
Lewis Edwards, 25, psychologically manipulated, bullied, threatened and exploited his victims and blackmailed them into sending indecent images of themselves.
A search warrant was executed at the defendant’s home in Heol Ty Cribwr on February 8 last year, which he shared with his parents A number of electronic items were seized from the property and Lewis Edwards was asked for PINs and passwords but responded “I don’t want to say at this time”.
Jamie Laver
(Image: South Wales Police)
The prolific burglar was caught and later jailed after police were able to identify him using new AI technology. South Wales Police say that Laver, 30, was caught after a social media appeal and retrospective facial recognition (RFR).
Following his sentencing, the force said Laver broke into homes and flats in the Roath and Splott areas of Cardiff. The thief had stolen a 72-inch television from student accommodation and jewellery of great sentimental value from the home of a grandmother. Laver was caught on CCTV in the Co-op on Splott Road using a bank card from a burglary committed minutes earlier on April 22, 2024.
Patrick Ryan
(Image: West Midlands Police)
The killer punched a man in the face and broke his jaw which led to his victim undergoing operations for titanium plates to be fitted. The attacker was previously jailed for manslaughter after he caused the death of a man he punched in the face.
Ryan, 34, had been out in Brecon town centre on March 9 last year when he approached a group including his victim Ethan Long. He began speaking to women in the group but was not getting the hint to leave them alone.
Mason Rudy
Mason Rudy, 20, carried out a campaign of sickening domestic violence against his partner after standing on her neck and threatening to kill her
(Image: Gwent Police)
The thug carried a campaign of sickening domestic violence against his partner after standing on her neck and threatening to kill her. He told the victim: “You f****** rat, I’ll f****** kill you.”
Rudy, 20, of Cwmcarn, Caerphilly, was extremely jealous throughout his relationship with his victim and falsely accused her of cheating on her. On one occasion, he sent threatening messages to her boss which led to the end of her employment.