A PEMBROKE DOCK man has appeared before magistrates after police discovered a samurai sword inside his home.

When officers visited the basement flat on Bush Street on October 23 for an unrelated matter, they found three swords on display – one of which was deemed to fall outside legal limits.

“The officers discovered three swords, one of which was without the criteria of the legislation,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest magistrates this week. “This was because the blade was 22 inches long.”

Defence solicitor Alaw Harries told the court that her client, 34-year-old Mark Briskham, had owned the sword for many years and kept it purely as an ornament.

“It was within his property and not in a public place, which would obviously be much more serious,” she said. “He’s owned the sword for many years, and it’s simply an ornament placed on a stand in a safe place and out of reach.”

After considering the mitigation, magistrates granted Briskham a conditional discharge. He was ordered to pay £85 in court costs and a £26 surcharge. A destruction order was made for the samurai sword.

Court hears hurling stick was for self-defence

A PEMBROKE man has denied possessing an offensive weapon after police found him with a hurling stick outside his home.

Jack Morgan, aged 30, of The Green, Pembroke, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week charged with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

The court heard that Morgan was arrested at his home on November 7 after police were called to an incident involving several men outside the property.

Defending, solicitor Jess Hill told magistrates that Morgan had only armed himself out of fear.

“Four males were beating on the door and the police were called, but there was a delay,” she said. “Jack Morgan was under considerable fear, so the hurling stick was for his protection.”

Morgan entered a plea of not guilty. The case was adjourned until December 22 for trial.

He was released on conditional bail requiring him to live and sleep at his home address, observe a curfew between 8:00pm and 8:00am, and have no contact with the prosecution witness.

Defendant over limit after minor collision while driving to care for her mother

A PEMBROKESHIRE support worker has been banned from driving after being involved in a two-vehicle collision in Haverfordwest while over the legal drug-drive limit.

Police were called to Pembroke Road at around 6:30pm on June 13 after a Hyundai i10 collided with another vehicle. At the scene, officers found the Hyundai’s driver, Sarah Richards, aged 54.

A roadside drugs test proved positive, and subsequent blood analysis at the police station showed Richards had 3mcg of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol — the active component of cannabis — in her system. The legal limit is 2mcg.

“The defendant was not the cause of the accident, and the other driver is now under investigation for what took place,” Richards’ solicitor, Jess Hill, told Haverfordwest magistrates after Richards entered a guilty plea.

“She was driving to her mother’s home as she needed to put her mother to bed, as she will soon require round-the-clock care. Without her driving licence, this will no longer be possible.”

Hill added that the mandatory driving ban was likely to result in the loss of Richards’ employment, as she relies on her car to travel to and from her job supporting adults with learning disabilities.

Richards, of Grassholm Place, Broadway, Broad Haven, was disqualified from driving for 12 months. She was fined £440 and ordered to pay £176 in surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.