Crime

Judge criticises reluctance to jail offenders after Haverfordwest hammer attack

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2024

A CROWN COURT judge has hit out at the judicial service’s reluctance to send criminals to custody despite their regular offending when sentencing a Haverfordwest man accused of attacking his victim with a lump hammer.

Addressing Joshua Lee, 21, when he appeared for sentencing at Swansea Crown Court on Monday for a revenge attack against a man he accused of raping his best friend’s sister, Judge Geraint Walters condemned the system for handing out persistent Community Orders instead of custodial sentences.

“Pussyfooting around with sentencing is a mistake in many cases,” he said.

“What’s the point of a fine or a Community Order, when on and on it goes?

“This is a man who needs help, but sometimes that means a more serious sentence.”

Lee, 21, had pleaded guilty to attacking his victim with a lump hammer in Salutation Square, Haverfordwest on the afternoon of Sunday, August 25.

Counsel for the Crown, John Hartson, KC, said the attack took place soon after 4pm.

“The victim was walking through the town centre when he was assaulted by the defendant and punched to the back of his head,” he said.

“[The victim] turned around and recognised the defendant but he was then punched to the head numerous times. There were 20 hits to his head and he was also hit twice to his face. The defendant then produced a lump hammer and used it to hit the victim to his right temple. He felt immediate pain.”

The defendant ran off but was later traced by police officers to an address in Fleming Crescent, Haverfordwest.

“He came out with his arms in front of him, saying, ‘So [the victim] raped my best friend’s sister. Now I’ve dealt with it.”

Meanwhile defence counsel David Johns, KC, said Lee’s life in the run-up to the revenge attack had been exceptionally difficult.

“He had a very difficult upbringing and was put into the care system when he was two years old where he was physically abused,” he said.

“This is a young man with mental health problems, who’s extremely immature, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that he’s had little or no moral guidance.

“Maybe if he’d had some sort of proper support before now, things would have been different.”

Mr John’s comments were endorsed by Judge Geraint Walters.

“The defendant was brought up in the most depressing way, and that is not his fault,” said Judge Walters.

“No two-year-old can be blamed for being taken into care and no two-year-old can be blamed for being abused so yes, you are the product of your upbringing.

“The courts, over the years, have given you one Community Order after another and they’ve achieved absolutely nothing. Someone should have taken the bull by the horns before now.

“You’re now getting some structured intervention in the prison which you were not getting in the community. I’d like to think that this is the last time that you’ll end up in court.”

Joshua Lee pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and to possessing an offensive weapon, namely a lump hammer, in a public place.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Half of this sentence will be served in custody with the remaining time being served on post-sentence supervision.

A five-year restraining order was imposed, preventing him from having any form of direct and indirect contact with the victim and a forfeiture and destruction order was made for the lump hammer.

Crime

Man spared jail after admitting child abuse image offences

Published

1 hour ago

February 3, 2026

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr

Police seized devices after intelligence linked Pembrokeshire address to illegal cloud storage accounts

A 23-YEAR-OLD Pembrokeshire man has avoided immediate custody after admitting making and possessing indecent images of children, including extreme bestiality material.

Ryan Beale, aged 23, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing this week.

At his first hearing, before magistrates on December 31, he entered guilty pleas and being granted conditional bail.

The court heard the case followed an intelligence-led police investigation linking Beale to a Dropbox account suspected of storing illegal material. Officers executed a warrant at his home on December 18.

During his arrest, Beale told officers: “I don’t use Dropbox,” claiming his email and Google accounts had been compromised.

However, police seized his mobile phone and computer equipment. A forensic examination found the email address connected to the Dropbox account stored on his device. Although the account had also been accessed from overseas locations, including Nigeria, investigators were satisfied it was controlled by Beale and linked to a larger cloud storage account containing significant volumes of illegal content.

Officers discovered 120 Category A images, 36 Category B images and 29 Category C images.

Category A represents the most serious level of abuse.

The material included extreme and disturbing bestiality content. Further Category C images were also located within the Dropbox account.

Two identified victims depicted in the images were girls aged nine and eleven.

Beale initially denied the allegations but later admitted the offences.

Passing sentence, at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday (Feb 3) the His Honour Geraint Walters said: “This was not an innocent pastime. Every time an adult views that image, a child is still being abused.”

He added that an early guilty plea had spared Beale immediate custody but warned the offences would have lifelong consequences.

“The public have no time for anybody doing this,” the judge said. “If you’re doing this, the police will find out. They didn’t knock on your door randomly — they knew what they were looking for.”

Beale was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He must complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and pay £300 in prosecution costs.

The court also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, ordered the forfeiture and destruction of his electronic devices, and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

“If you keep yourself out of trouble, you won’t have to serve that custodial sentence,” the judge told him.

Crime

Hakin man’s appeal delayed again as Crown Court seeks guidance on insurance law

Published

2 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr

Judge gives CPS more time to review latest road traffic law guidance before case returns in March

A HAKIN man’s appeal against a conviction for driving without insurance has been delayed after a judge granted prosecutors additional time to review updated legal guidance.

Seventy-six-year-old Niall Taylor, of Haven Drive, appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday (Jan 13) for a mention hearing in his case.

Taylor has accepted the finding that he drove otherwise than in accordance with a licence, but is challenging the separate conviction for using a vehicle without insurance.

The case relates to an incident on January 18, 2023, when he drove a Vauxhall Zafira along Hammond Avenue, Haverfordwest.

The matter has already followed an unusual procedural history. Taylor initially pleaded not guilty in the magistrates’ court but later changed his plea during the original trial. Questions were subsequently raised over whether that plea had been “equivocal”, leading the case to be reopened under Section 142 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and reheard in full.

Following a trial of the facts, magistrates found him guilty and imposed sentence in December. Taylor has since lodged an appeal focused solely on the insurance offence.

During Tuesday’s hearing, His Honour Judge Walters granted the Crown Prosecution Service 28 days to review Wilkinson’s Road Traffic Offences (32nd Edition), the leading legal reference text used by courts in motoring cases.

Addressing the court, the judge said the matter may still require further consideration, adding: “The court still might want to reconsider the sentence even if the insurance company is right. It does look as if different insurance companies do things in different ways.”

He added: “It is not in fact void, but it is voidable.”

Taylor maintains that a valid insurance policy was in force at the time of driving and argues that, in law, third-party cover cannot simply be cancelled because of an administrative licensing issue.

The appeal is due to return to Swansea Crown Court on March 27, when further legal argument is expected.

Crime

Pembroke Dock woman admits breaching community order

Published

5 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr

Magistrates revoke sentence after missed appointments

A PEMBROKE DOCK woman has admitted breaching the terms of a community order.

Shannon Charge, aged 30, of Pater Court, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Monday (Feb 2).

She admitted failing to attend a scheduled probation appointment and a drug dependency appointment.

Magistrates revoked the existing community order and ordered her to pay £60 in court costs.

The court heard the order related to earlier offences, for which she had been made subject to rehabilitation and drug treatment requirements. A further review hearing is listed for March 2.