THE MAYOR of Milford Haven, Cllr William Elliott, paid a visit to Milford Haven Library on Tuesday morning to attend its festive Mince Pie and a Cuppa event.

The event brought together library staff and local residents, with the Mayor thanking staff for their work supporting the community throughout the year. During the visit, Cllr Elliott also spent time speaking with residents who had come along to the event or were visiting the library to borrow books.

Milford Haven Library is part of the Pembrokeshire Libraries service, which provides access to books, information, and community activities across the county.

The Mayor wished residents a Merry Christmas at the close of his visit.

A MILFORD HAVEN man who launched a violent drunken assault on his partner before attacking two police officers has been jailed for three years and six months.

Alexander Campbell was sentenced on Wednesday (Dec 16) at Swansea Crown Court after admitting causing grievous bodily harm and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard that Campbell had been in a relationship with his partner, Miss Cox, for six years. On the night of the offence, he returned home highly intoxicated and became argumentative.

Prosecutor Rieve Nesbitt-Marr told the court that Miss Cox advised Campbell to go upstairs and sleep off the alcohol. Instead, he began poking her and told her not to tell him what to do.

Campbell then launched what Miss Cox described as “a flurry of punches that rained down on her.”

Neighbours contacted police after hearing the disturbance. When officers arrived, they found a smashed bowl on the floor and Miss Cox lying on the sofa under a blanket, covering her face.

Body-worn camera footage played in court showed Campbell threatening officers, telling them: “I will turn this place into a f***ing murder scene.”

As officers attempted to separate the parties, PC Thomas placed her arm out to create distance. Campbell grabbed her wrist with force, an assault captured on body-worn video.

He then attacked PC Jones, climbing on top of him and punching him repeatedly, again recorded on police body-worn footage.

PC Thomas later attended Withybush Hospital, where she received four stitches under local anaesthetic. Miss Cox suffered severe facial bruising, with one eye swollen almost shut.

The court was told that Miss Cox’s ten-year-old daughter was upstairs at the property during the incident.

Campbell has 27 previous offences. In mitigation, the court heard that he accepted alcohol turned him into a different person, telling the court: “I’m an ugly person when I drink. I’m a different person when I’m sober.”

Sentencing Campbell, the judge said he knew better than anyone how alcohol affected him.

“You came home in a bad mood and almost predictively, you assaulted her,” the judge said.
“The noise and aggression was such that the neighbour called the police.”
“You gave her a bruise on her face that can only be described as a large shiner.”
“In short, you have injured three people. Your conduct was utterly pathetic, like an overgrown child.”

The judge also referred to Campbell’s violent history, describing him as a “cowardly bully.”

While acknowledging that Campbell had previously complied well with a suspended sentence after removing his own alcohol tag, the judge said custody was unavoidable.

Campbell was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, with half to be served in custody and the remainder on licence.

Warning him about his future, the judge added: “If you carry on with this behaviour you will spend a lifetime in prison. The only person who can change this is you.”

The court also granted a restraining order for five years.

MORE than 16,000 people were added to the electoral register during the UK’s first Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) pilots, according to results published this week by the Electoral Commission.

The pilots were carried out in Gwynedd, Newport and Powys, with a fourth, desk-based exercise taking place in Carmarthenshire. They were launched by the Welsh Government in 2024 under powers granted by the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024.

Under the scheme, local authorities used existing public records – including council tax and education data – to identify and add eligible voters to the electoral register without requiring them to submit an individual application.

Electoral reform programme

The pilots form part of a wider programme of electoral reform in Wales, which has already seen the introduction of votes at 16 for Senedd and local elections, alongside efforts to improve accessibility and participation.

The Electoral Commission said the pilots demonstrated that barriers to registration could be reduced using data already held by public bodies, and that large numbers of people who would otherwise remain unregistered could be enfranchised through automated processes.

Although four local authorities were involved overall, only three pilots resulted in people being directly added to the register. Carmarthenshire participated through a data-matching exercise rather than live registration.

Wider UK implications

The findings have significance beyond Wales. The UK Government has already signalled its intention to introduce automated voter registration across England and the rest of the UK as part of future electoral legislation.

The Electoral Commission estimates that more than eight million people across the UK are currently not registered to vote. Concerns have been raised in recent years that Britain has one of the most complex voter registration systems among established democracies.

Supporters of AVR argue that using trusted public datasets could significantly reduce under-registration, particularly among young people, renters and those who move frequently.

Calls for expansion

Jess Blair, Director of ERS Cymru, said the pilots showed automatic registration was both effective and scalable.

She said: “These Automatic Voter Registration pilots have added over 16,000 previously unregistered potential voters to the electoral register in just three local areas. It proves that AVR works and should be in place across Wales for future elections.

“It makes life easier and simpler for voters and could help reduce the barriers thousands of people across the country face in playing an active part in our democracy.”

Ms Blair said the results also highlighted the potential impact of a UK-wide scheme.

“The fact that over 16,000 people were added in just three areas using only local authority data means the potential for AVR at a UK level, using more comprehensive national datasets, is huge,” she said.

Timing concerns

Despite the positive results, automatic voter registration will not be in place for the next Senedd elections in May 2026.

ERS Cymru said it was disappointed by the timescale and urged the next Welsh Government to move quickly to ensure the system is operational for local elections in 2027.

With the UK Government expected to bring forward legislation on electoral reform, campaigners say the Welsh pilots provide a clear model for reducing registration barriers and increasing democratic participation nationwide.