News

The Pembrokeshire Murders: The story behind the drama

Published

3 years ago

December 22, 2020

JOHN COOPER cast a long shadow over Pembrokeshire from 1985 until he was eventually caught and sentenced to life in prison for his horrendous, violent crimes in 2011.

Back in 1996 I was 11, it was my first year in Milford Comp and I can vividly remember being warned to stay out of Mount Woods after the serious sexual assault that was carried out nearby.

Those warnings felt, to an 11-year-old me, very serious, even if I wasn’t given the full facts at the time, it was clear that these warnings were coming from a place of genuine concern or even fear.

Fear was a weapon that, according to the new ITV drama ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’, Cooper, being played by Keith Allen, wielded not only against his victims, but also against his family in order to guarantee their silence and loyalty.

The new drama series, coming to ITV early next year, not only focuses on Cooper’s deplorable crimes, but also on the effects that he had on those closest to him, like his son Andrew.

I got the chance to have a chat with members of the cast and crew over Zoom. Talking to The Herald, ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’ writer Nick Stevens said: “Andrew Cooper was left a fragile, damaged and broken man after his father’s spree.

“Andrew had lost everything and had no happiness in his life because of his bully of a father, who, of course, blamed his son for his crimes.”

Caroline Berry as Pat Cooper (L) and Oliver Ryan as Andrew Cooper (R)

His son wasn’t the only one who felt the full wrath of John Cooper’s anger though, Nick went on to speak of Cooper’s wife Pat who also lived in fear of her husband.
“One of the key moments in the series is when Andrew reaches out to his mum, he goes to see her only for her to bring up those Khaki Shorts. At that moment it becomes clear to Andrew that Pat was still a part of Cooper’s agenda.”

That agenda of fear, of lies and of violent outbursts over the years, ensured his family’s silence, but how is it possible to bring a character as intricate and as predatory as Cooper to the screen?
Executive Producer Simon Heath told me “People remember Keith from years ago but people don’t know his Welsh roots.

“There’s a specific accent that Keith delivers perfectly that gives him the quiet menace that Cooper needed. When he unleashes his anger you can see the terror he inflicted on those around him.”

I asked Keith what worried him the most about taking on the role of Cooper: “I was worried about my accent” said Keith “I used to work in Tenby running boats during the summer, so I went back there on a Sunday and just sat in pubs listening to people talk but they were full of Mancs, Scousers and people from Birmingham watching Sky Sports!”

Keith Allen as John Cooper

“So what I did was drive out to Cooper’s village and walk around the area, then I went back to Tenby and that got me in the groove.”

“My trigger (for getting into character) was how he says ‘scuba diving’ from the Bullseye footage.

“I saw that and I thought ‘Oh my god, there’s a guy who will kill a couple one month later’ and you can see he’s not a very nice person, he imposes himself on his playing partner and he doesn’t enjoy being on that show.

“When he misses you can see the fury in his eyes and I’ve often thought that if he scored 180 on Bullseye that maybe they (the Dixons) would still be alive.”

Putting yourself in the mindset of a psychopath must be one of the weirdest experiences possible, Keith told me: “When you’re playing a real person, you can’t take your eye off the ball. But I’m a bone idle actor, I’m not the type of actor to be affected, but when you’re playing a real person, who did these terrible things, you do end up taking that character home with you.

“I’ve never met him but I think I’ve seen enough of him, when you know what he did you can watch him lying on the police tapes and it’s fascinating.”

Operation Ottawa: the team that cracked the case in the new ITV drama

But Cooper isn’t the sole focus of the new ITV series, we’re also going to see the herculean efforts put in by members of Dyfed-Powys Police to secure a conviction, leading the investigation at the time was Steve Wilkins who is being played by ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ star Luke Evans who relished the chance to work on home soil with ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’.

Luke told The Herald: “It was wonderful, I miss being home very much. I have such a close connection to Wales and it was lovely to be surrounded by authentic Welsh people, rich accents and wonderful characters.”
When asked about working around the stunning Pembrokeshire coast, Luke told The Herald “It’s just a magnificent place to be at anytime of the year, the juxtaposition of these terrible things alongside the dramatic coastline is incredible.”

‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’ finished production just days before the first COVID-19 lockdown was announced, Luke told me: “We finished production on March 13th 2020 and within 4 days we were in lockdown. We were lucky to get the chance to make this and even luckier to get it finished before lockdown.”

My last question for them was about the victims, did they feel a responsibility to those that were so awfully affected by Cooper’s reign of fear, to which Alexandria Riley, who’s playing Ella Richards, said: “We never forgot that this drama is based on real life, we were so aware that we had a responsibility to do it right. Everyone involved took that responsibility on their shoulders, to be sensitive to those affected by Cooper.
“We filmed close to where those events took place and it kept you focussed on being respectful.”

Keith Allen summed it up too, saying: “I think the program itself answers that question, I’ve seen it and what I like about it is there’s no weird lighting or effects, it’s realistic and in your face.
“It makes you think ‘God, is that what these people went through?’. When the people involved see this, hopefully they’ll think ‘good, now the world knows what we went through’.”
‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’ will air on three consecutive nights (January 11, 12 and 13) on ITV and we’ll definitely be tuning in.

Business

Largest Welsh port appoints communications and marketing director

Published

5 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Port of Milford Haven has announced that Anna Malloy has been appointed as its first Communications and Marketing Director.

Anna is appointed to the Senior Management Team and this new role will be pivotal to the delivery of the Port’s long-term growth and diversification agenda and in ensuring that its obligations to coastal communities, future generations and to nature are honoured.

Tom Sawyer, CEO of the Port of Milford Haven, congratulated Anna and said: “Anna has a key role to play in our future and it’s doubly lovely to see ‘port-grown-talent’ flourish and for colleagues to progress up through our organisation.”

Anna will lead across the public affairs, marketing, sustainability, media relations, and community relations activities. She will therefore play a central role in the development of new and existing partnerships, including the Celtic Freeport, the Milford Haven Energy Cluster and the Celtic Collection; sitting alongside the delivery of major projects like Milford Waterfront and the Pembroke Dock Renewables Terminal.

“This is such an exciting opportunity. I am proud to be joining the Senior Management Team and look forward to delivering our ambitious strategy,” commented Anna Malloy, Communications and Marketing Director.

She added: “The Port of Milford Haven is playing a key role in the transition of South-West Wales’ economy to a decarbonised future. A beautiful place, with great people, that I am privileged to call my home.”

Community

First deadlines met following enforcement action at landfill site

Published

7 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

NRW issued site operator Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with a further Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice on Thursday 18 April.

This outlined a series of actions to be completed by specified deadlines to address the ongoing odour and landfill gas emission issues at the site.

During the latest site inspection which took place yesterday (Thursday 25 April), NRW was able to confirm that three actions have been completed – two ahead of the imposed deadlines.

The operator has installed 24 pin wells, which have been driven into the waste in the lower section of the cell identified as causing the odour issues (Cell 8). These have also been connected to the landfill gas extraction system.

Capping material has been placed over the same area of the cell and welded to the basal liner to encapsulate gas in this area, allowing for extraction by the pin wells and four horizontal gas wells, which were previously installed.

While progress is being made, NRW officers detected strong landfill gas odours during an offsite assessment on Wednesday (24 April) in Poyston Cross and Crundale. Weather conditions this week appear to have led to a wider spread of landfill gas to surrounding areas, not solely linked to wind direction.

NRW odour assessments follow a set route around the landfill, with designated survey spots, identified to enable consistency of assessment and reporting. This is essential to ensure the regulatory and enforcement responses where there is offsite odour attributed to the landfill is robust.

The remaining Regulation 36 Notice actions will require significant effort by RML to ensure they are completed on time and NRW continues to closely monitor progress.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive of NRW, met with representatives from NRW’s South West Industry Regulation Team and Pembrokeshire County Council during a visit to Pembrokeshire on Thursday 25 April.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive, Natural Resources Wales, said: “While visiting the area surrounding Withyhedge Landfill with our regulatory team and partners from Pembrokeshire County Council this week, I was able to see and hear for myself just what people living and working in these communities have had to endure as a result of the odour issues from the site.

“What they have been experiencing is unacceptable and our officers have been working tirelessly alongside colleagues at Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator gets this under control as quickly as possible. While it was clear that a lot of work has been done on site, there is still more to do to ensure they address all the actions set out in the enforcement notice.

“We want to make sure that happens, and are exploring every option together with Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator works quickly to resolve the issues which are clearly affecting the quality of life of people in these communities.”

Huwel Manley, Head of South West Operations, said: “While we are reassured that action is being carried out by the operators at Withyhedge Landfill with a sense of urgency, we are continuing our regulatory presence on site to ensure the operator’s focus remains on tackling the issues that will address the continuing odour issues being experienced by surrounding communities.

“We will be closely monitoring progress over the coming days and weeks to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May. If they are not met, we will pursue additional enforcement action where appropriate.”

NRW requests that instances of odour from the landfill continue to be reported via this dedicated form: https://bit.ly/reportasmellwithyhedge or by calling 0300 065 3000.

Please report odours at the time of them being experienced, rather than historically. Reporting odours in a timely manner will help guide the work of partners more effectively, particularly in the further development of air quality monitoring.

These photos taken on 16 April and 25 April show the progress of capping works on cell 8. Pin wells are visible in both images. These have been connected to the landfill gas extraction system and are extracting gas from the waste mass.

Community

Milford Haven’s war memorial is 100 years old today

Published

7 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Milford Haven War Memorial, a significant landmark commemorating the fallen heroes of World Wars and subsequent conflicts, marks its 100th anniversary today.

The memorial, which was inaugurated on April 26, 1924 by the Venerable the Archdeacon of St Davids, remains a poignant symbol of sacrifice and hope for peace.

Constructed from 1923 to 1924, the memorial consists of a striking assembly of pink granite and white marble statues that were sculpted in Italy.

Representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force, these life-size statues stand on an unpolished three-step plinth below a main pedestal. A soldier faces west and a sailor east, with an airman atop the central column, surveying the skies.

The names and inscriptions of the fallen are carved into the polished granite shaft, meticulously supervised by surveyor J.P. Morgan with contractor E. Jones of Llanybydder.

Located on Hamolton Terrace with views over the Milford Haven waterway, the memorial is a freestanding structure in an external, roadside setting. It features a serviceman/woman sculpture in marble and Portland stone, set on a concrete base surrounded by railings. Inscribed plaques honour those who served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2009.

The memorial lists the names of 239 men who perished in the First World War on its polished grey granite faces. The Second World War claimed 157 lives from this community, whose names are recorded on bronze plaques around the base. Notably, the memorial also honours one serviceman who fell during the Korean War and another who was killed in Iraq in 2007.

The Milford Haven War Memorial stands not only as a historical monument but also as an enduring reminder of the costs of war and the community’s ongoing commitment to peace.

As the town reflects on a century of remembrance, the hope remains that future generations will continue to cherish and learn from the lessons of the past.