Crime

Huge investment to tackle domestic abuse perpetrators and protect victims

Published

4 months ago

July 28, 2025

A MAJOR government initiative will see £53 million invested over the next four years to directly target the most dangerous domestic abuse perpetrators across England and Wales, in a bid to reduce repeat offending and better protect women and children.

Announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the plan forms a key part of the Government’s wider “Plan for Change” and commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. The strategy focuses on shifting the burden of safety from victims to perpetrators by ramping up early interventions, disruption tactics, and long-term behavioural change.

Drive Project to expand nationwide

At the heart of the new measures is the expansion of the Drive Project, a specialist programme first piloted in 2016, which uses intensive case management to challenge and change the behaviour of high-risk abusers. Backed by a consortium of leading organisations – Respect, SafeLives, and Social Finance – the programme combines offender monitoring, protective orders, and substance misuse interventions, with parallel support for victims through Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs).

Results from the scheme show dramatic reductions in abuse: physical abuse down by 82%, sexual abuse by 88%, stalking by 75%, and controlling behaviour by 73%.

With the new funding, the project will expand to 15 additional areas by March 2026, with full national rollout planned thereafter.

Targeting predatory behaviour in public spaces

Alongside the domestic abuse investment, an additional £230,000 will be used to enhance Project Vigilant, a scheme that deploys plain-clothed officers in nightlife hotspots to detect and disrupt predatory behaviour. Operated by Thames Valley Police and others, the initiative also includes new tools such as sniffer dogs trained to detect date-rape drugs.

This dual approach – tackling offenders both in private settings and in the night-time economy – underscores the government’s broader shift to a suspect-focused policing model.

Victims at the centre

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said the new focus aims to ensure victims are no longer responsible for managing the threat posed by abusers.

“We are going after perpetrators wherever they pose a threat – at home or on the street. Every penny we invest in holding offenders to account is a step toward a safer future for victims,” she said.

The announcement precedes the Civil Society Summit being held today (Thursday, July 17), where ministers will join panels alongside leading organisations including Women’s Aid and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner to discuss long-term strategy.

Collaborative delivery

The Drive Project will be delivered in collaboration with police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners, and local domestic abuse services. Key interventions will include:

Use of protection orders and enforcement to disrupt abuse
Working with social services to protect children
Relocating perpetrators to prevent reoffending
Tackling drug and alcohol misuse
Long-term behavioural programmes
Continuous victim support

Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director of The Drive Partnership, welcomed the new funding, saying: “Victim-survivors consistently tell us they want those who harm them to be seen, stopped, and held to account. This investment allows us to do just that, in partnership with local services.”

The latest funding comes on top of nearly £20 million announced earlier this year to support victims of abuse, including £6 million earmarked for helplines.

A refreshed strategy on violence against women and girls is expected shortly, setting out further steps on prevention, early intervention, and system-wide transformation.

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

5 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.