Magistrates decline jurisdiction over serious allegations

A JOHNSTON man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of threatening a male with a knife and carrying out a violent assault.

Kenneth Mathias, 42, of Old School Lane, Johnston, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates.

“The parties were socialising, but comments were made and one of the complainants slapped the defendant gently to the face,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan said.

“Kenneth Mathias then carried out a sustained attack, punching the complainant nine or ten times to the head.”

The court heard that when another male attempted to intervene, Mathias placed him in a chokehold, causing breathing difficulties.

“A knife was then drawn and held close to the complainant’s neck,” Ms Vaughan added.

Mathias, represented by solicitor Alaw Harries, denied wrongdoing and claimed he had acted in self-defence.

He faces multiple charges including assault, criminal damage, theft, intentional strangulation, threatening with an offensive weapon, harassment causing fear of violence, and intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction and, following an application by the Crown, Mathias was remanded in custody. He will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on March 6.

Pennar woman almost three times over legal limits

A PENNAR motorist has been banned from the roads for two years after being caught behind the wheel with three illegal drugs in her system.

Stacey Wootton, 29, was stopped by police on September 2 as she drove her Volkswagen Golf through Amphion Court, Pembroke Dock.

“The officers’ attention was drawn to a defective light on her vehicle,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest magistrates.

After a roadside drug swipe proved positive, further blood tests showed Wootton had 130 micrograms of cocaine in her system, along with 800 micrograms of the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 2.4 micrograms of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol. The legal limits are 10, 50 and 2 respectively.

The court was told that Wootton, of Military Road, Pennar, Pembroke Dock, has no previous convictions.

After pleading guilty to three charges of drug-driving, her solicitor Mike Kelleher said she had since “taken steps to improve her lot”.

After considering a probation report, magistrates disqualified Wootton from driving for 24 months. She was fined £240 and ordered to pay a £96 surcharge and £85 costs.

Police figures show recorded thefts falling locally, while shopkeepers and former offender describe ‘daily’ losses and low reporting rates

POLICE statistics suggest shoplifting is falling across Wales – but retailers in Pembrokeshire have told The Herald the problem remains persistent, under-reported and, in some cases, worse than ever.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 10% decrease in police-recorded shoplifting across Wales in the year to September. In the Dyfed-Powys Police area, which covers Pembrokeshire, recorded offences fell by 20%.

The numbers were welcomed this week by retail union Usdaw, which said the drop offered “hope” that government action on retail crime was starting to have an effect.

However, several local traders said the official figures do not reflect what they are seeing on the ground.

One Milford Haven shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, told The Herald: “We don’t always report it now. You’d spend half your day on the phone. Sometimes it’s easier just to write it off. But it’s happening all the time.”

Another said theft had become “a daily nuisance”, adding that repeat offenders often returned within days.

Under-reporting concerns

The gap between statistics and experience may be explained by the way crimes are recorded.

Police figures only count incidents that are reported and logged. Retailers say many low-value thefts go unreported due to time pressures, lack of confidence that action will follow, and the administrative burden of statements and CCTV downloads.

Usdaw’s own survey of nearly 9,500 shop workers found that more than three-quarters had experienced verbal abuse, while over half had been threatened – with many incidents linked to theft.

Former offender speaks out

The Herald also spoke to a man from Milford Haven who was recently released from prison after serving time for repeated theft offences.

He said he had spent more than two years funding a drug habit by shoplifting across Pembrokeshire and in Cardiff.

According to his account, it was possible to steal goods worth up to £1,000 a day and sell them on, and he was “rarely stopped”.

“Most of the time you just walk out,” he claimed. “Even if staff catch you, they don’t always call police. It’s not worth their time.”

He said he had been detained around 50 times during what he described as hundreds of incidents, but only about ten led to police involvement and just four resulted in court.

While his experience is anecdotal, it echoes the frustrations voiced by local businesses who believe many thefts never make it into official statistics.

Government crackdown

The issue has also been raised in Parliament.

Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell has previously said he has spoken to local shop owners about the impact of retail crime and has welcomed government measures aimed at strengthening enforcement.

Labour has pledged tougher action on shoplifting, including ending the widely criticised £200 threshold that many retailers felt led to low-value thefts being deprioritised, alongside promises of more visible neighbourhood policing.

Retailers say any extra support would be welcome – but many believe rebuilding confidence that crimes will be taken seriously is key.

As one trader put it: “The stats might say it’s down. But if you’re running a small shop and losing stock every week, it doesn’t feel like it.”