MEMBERS of the public are being encouraged to play a direct role in improving policing by joining a Community Scrutiny Panel hosted by Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn.

The panel will take place in Brecon on Tuesday, July 1, from 4pm to 7pm, offering local residents the opportunity to independently review police interactions with the public.

Volunteers will examine the quality of police contact, the ethical use of police powers and the level of service being delivered to communities across the force area. The panel serves as an independent public voice, providing feedback and recommendations to Dyfed-Powys Police to help strengthen transparency, accountability and public confidence in policing.

The initiative is open to anyone aged 18 and over. No previous experience is  required as training and guidance will be provided to all participants.

Those who join the panel will have the chance to influence improvements in police practice, gain valuable real-world skills and experience, and represent the views of the wider community.

Anyone interested in taking part can find out more and register online at: https://forms.office.com/e/u9dR9rjc9Z?origin=lprLink. 

A KEBAB manufacturer has been fined £500,000 after a court heard products sold as lamb contained little actual lamb and were instead made up largely of skin, fat and other meats.

Kismet Kebabs Ltd, based in Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after previously admitting fraud by false representation.

The company was also ordered to pay £259,298 in costs.

The case was brought following an investigation led by Swansea Council’s trading standards team, which found products supplied to takeaways and restaurants did not match the meat content declared on their labels.

Prosecutor Lee Reynolds told the court the firm had misled wholesalers, retailers and customers over a prolonged period.

He said products described as lamb contained a mixture of fat, skin, goat, mutton, mechanically reclaimed meat and other lower-grade products.

In one example, a lamb doner labelled as containing 87% lamb was found to contain only 51% meat and 40% fat.

The investigation began after trading standards officers carried out sampling at kebab houses and restaurants in late 2020 and early 2021.

Further testing at wholesalers found major differences between what was stated on labels and what the products actually contained.

Officers later visited Kismet’s factory in Chelmsford, where concerns were raised about production, packaging and labelling.

The court heard invoices showed the firm was buying very little lamb, but large quantities of skin, fat, goat and other products.

Kismet’s barrister, Stuart Jessop, said the firm had operated successfully for many years and had since made significant changes. He said the company had “taken its eye off the ball” at the time of the offending, but argued that forcing it out of business would benefit nobody.

Judge Huw Rees said fraudulent activity had been “endemic” at the company and described the dishonesty as considerable and prolonged.

The company has been given four years to pay the fine and costs.

Court told offence was committed during suspended sentence period

A CARMARTHENSHIRE man has been jailed after admitting possessing a lock knife in a public place.

David Jones, aged 61, of Cwmcatty, Porthyrhyd, appeared before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Friday (Jun 5).

He admitted that on June 4, at Llanelli, he had a lock knife with him in a public place without good reason or lawful authority.

Jones was jailed for four months.

The court record stated the offence was so serious that only custody could be justified, and that it was committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence.

The court also ordered that the lock knife be forfeited and deprived from him.

A second charge, alleging threatening or abusive behaviour towards PCSO Nicholl of Dyfed-Powys Police, was withdrawn.