Crime

Man accused of raping three women said to have ‘absolute indifference to consent’

Published

7 months ago

May 1, 2025

Prosecution: ‘Three women, 20 years apart — this is not a conspiracy, it is a pattern’

A CARMARTHEN man accused of raping three women over the course of two decades showed “absolute indifference” to consent, a jury has heard at Swansea Crown Court.

Daniel Gravell, aged 43, of Porth Y Plas in Johnstown, is standing trial for three counts of rape relating to alleged incidents in 2002, 2005, and 2022. He denies all charges.

Gravell, a former teacher and one-time manager of a local wedding venue, faced closing arguments on Thursday (Apr 30) after a week of disturbing and detailed evidence. Prosecuting counsel Matthew Cobbe told jurors that Gravell’s behaviour demonstrated a long-standing pattern of targeting women who were intoxicated or otherwise vulnerable.

Mr Cobbe said: “He is calculating. He is manipulative. And over a span of 20 years, he has shown complete indifference to whether the women he has sex with actually consent.”

Allegations span two decades
The court heard that the first alleged rape occurred in 2002 after a night out. The complainant said she had been drinking at a friend’s house before heading into town, but recalled waking at around 4:15am with Gravell on top of her. She said she told him to stop, but he continued — falsely telling her, “It’s OK, it’s [her ex-boyfriend’s name].” The jury heard that she told a friend she had been raped moments later.

Gravell’s own friend, who gave evidence last week, said Gravell had described the encounter using the same phrase — “It’s OK, it’s [name]” — and appeared to be boasting about it at the time.

The second allegation dates to June 2005 and relates to an alleged rape outside Carmarthen Athletic Club. The woman said Gravell approached her outside a pub on Lammas Street, said he knew her father, and lured her away. She claimed he then raped her near the club. Gravell told the court that while he recognised her from the area, the sex was consensual and took place with her facing away from him.

Mr Cobbe challenged this, asking the jury: “Is it really impossible to have sex vertically against a wall, as he claims? Or is it just part of a story that doesn’t add up?”

‘Spiked’ on night of 2022 allegation
The most recent incident is alleged to have occurred in February 2022 after a night out in Carmarthen. The complainant told relatives the next day that she believed her drink had been spiked — she woke up covered in vomit with no memory of how she got home.

A neighbour told the court he saw Gravell arrive at the complainant’s home that night and bang loudly on the door before being let in. Later, Gravell’s friend, the late Ieuan Davies, described walking in on the woman giving Gravell oral sex and shouting, “Go on, Gravsy!” as a joke.

Davies said the woman immediately pulled a sheet over herself and later appeared to be having sex with Gravell upstairs.

Gravell told the court the sex was entirely consensual. “She was on top of me, enjoying it,” he said. He claimed they had sex twice that night — the second time after he returned to the room in the early hours.

A taxi driver who took Gravell and the woman home earlier that evening said the pair seemed drunk but friendly, and he assumed they were a couple. The driver recalled Gravell saying, “I’ll show you trouble later,” which he took as a sexual innuendo.

Defence: ‘This case began with gossip’
Defence barrister Tom Crowther KC urged the jury to remain sceptical, questioning the reliability of the women’s accounts and the possibility of cross-contamination over time.

“This case began with the 2016 trial,” said Mr Crowther, referring to a previous occasion on which Gravell was acquitted of rape. “Since then, the rumour mill in Carmarthen has never stopped turning. Gossip has turned into allegations.”

He told the jury that the third complainant did not want to report Gravell and that it was only after her aunt contacted police that the investigation began.

“She didn’t want him prosecuted. She didn’t say his name in her first interview. She was trying to hide who she’d been with — possibly because she regretted it, not because it was rape,” said Mr Crowther.

He also questioned the consistency of the three complaints. “How is it that two of the complainants, who deny ever knowing or speaking to each other, both referred to themselves as the ‘mother hen’ of their friend group?”

Mr Crowther said each complainant had “added last-minute details” to their statements over time and reminded jurors that there was no physical evidence to support any of the three rape allegations. He said the 2005 allegation was particularly implausible given its location next to a busy rugby club and police station.

In response, Mr Cobbe asked the jury: “If these women are lying, then it is one of the most elaborate conspiracies you are ever likely to see. But they didn’t know each other. They aren’t working together. What are the odds that three women, 20 years apart, would independently lie about the same man?”

Judge to sum up before deliberations
Judge Geraint Walters is due to sum up the case on Friday (May 2), before the jury retires to consider its verdicts.

Gravell remains on bail and denies all charges.

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

Crime

Banned for 40 months after driving with cocaine breakdown product in blood

Published

9 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Sarah-Jane Absalom

A MILFORD HAVEN woman has been handed a lengthy driving ban after admitting driving with a controlled drug in her system more than ten times over the legal limit.

SENTENCED AT HAVERFORDWEST

Sally Allen, 43, of Wentworth Close, Hubberston, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (Dec 4) for sentencing, having pleaded guilty on November 25 to driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the prescribed limit.

The court heard that Allen was stopped on August 25 on the Old Hakin Road at Tiers Cross while driving an Audi A3. Blood analysis showed 509µg/l of Benzoylecgonine, a breakdown product of cocaine. The legal limit is 50µg/l.

COMMUNITY ORDER AND REHABILITATION

Magistrates imposed a 40-month driving ban, backdated to her interim disqualification which began on November 25.

Allen was also handed a 12-month community order, requiring her to complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities as directed by the Probation Service.

She was fined £120, ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £114 surcharge. Her financial penalties will be paid in £25 monthly instalments from January 1, 2026.

The bench—Mrs H Roberts, Mr M Shankland and Mrs J Morris—said her guilty plea had been taken into account when passing sentence.