Police say the spikes were placed on a public right of way beside Pembrey Road

DYFED-POWYS POLICE is appealing for information after metal spikes were allegedly placed on a public footpath near Kidwelly, damaging farm machinery and other vehicles.

The incidents are believed to have taken place between June 5 and July 1 on a public right of way beside Pembrey Road.

Officers say the spikes caused damage to farming equipment and other vehicles using the route.

Concerns have also been raised that the objects could cause serious injury to walkers, cyclists, horse riders or others using the public right of way.

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact Dyfed-Powys Police online, by emailing [email protected] or by calling 101.

Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote police reference 26*462051.

Goldfinches taken from the wild were found distressed, injured and confined in dirty cages at a property in The Glebe

A PEMBROKESHIRE man who illegally trapped and kept wild birds has been banned from owning birds for 15 years and handed a suspended prison sentence.

Colwyn Probert, aged 38, was found keeping goldfinches and other wild birds in cages at a property in The Glebe, Tenby, following concerns raised by a Dyfed-Powys Police rural crime officer.

Probert, of Kingsmoor Caravan Park, Kingsmoor Common, Kilgetty, admitted three offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and one offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Appearing at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on July 2, he was given an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, comply with a six-month curfew and pay £400 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.

All traps, cages and bird rings seized during the investigation will be confiscated.

The RSPCA launched an investigation after police reported concerns that wild birds were being caught in the rear garden of the Tenby property.

RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Ellie West attended with police on October 17 last year and was shown an aviary containing more than a dozen goldfinches and a mule-type bird.

The birds appeared restless and repeatedly moved from perch to perch. A further 14 birds were found confined in small cages inside a roofed room at the side of the house.

Three cage traps were discovered at the property, including one that had previously been positioned near a bird feeder in the garden. Officers also found a bag containing metal bird rings and ring cutters.

The birds were seized and initially taken to a boarding establishment before being transferred to the RSPCA’s Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in East Sussex. They were later released back into the wild.

An ornithological expert who examined the birds said several had suffered damage to their beaks after repeatedly flying into the bars of their cages. One bird was also missing its tail.

Many of the finches had distinctive dark-coloured legs, which the expert said were characteristic of birds caught in the wild.

The expert said: “I believe all the goldfinches were caught from the wild.

“While I did not see the original cages, the dirtiness of many of their feathers would point to the cages not having enough room for them to fly onto perches above the faeces at the bottom.”

The district judge said the birds may have been trapped with the intention of selling them.

Addressing Probert, the judge said: “You put wild birds, which should be free and wild, in unsuitable cages, which must have been extremely stressful for them.”

Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben said: “These poor birds were treated like commodities.

“They were caged and unable to exhibit normal behaviour, while they were also living in a filthy environment with no clean water provided for them.

“All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is illegal to deliberately kill, injure or take one, except under licence.”

Party leader says allegations involving children in care underline the need for a Wales-wide investigation into institutional failings

THE WELSH CONSERVATIVES have renewed calls for a Wales-wide inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation following the charging of eight people in Gwent.

Gwent Police said eight British nationals had been charged with more than 30 offences as part of an investigation into alleged group-based child sexual exploitation.

Responding to the development, Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar MS said the allegations represented a serious betrayal of children who should have been protected by the care system.

“These are horrific allegations representing an unforgivable betrayal of children who should have been protected by the care system,” he said.

“We now have reports of abuse in Gwent, Swansea, Rhyl and rural Wales. It is essential that the Welsh Government commissions a Wales-wide inquiry to ensure that no stone is left unturned in exposing the extent of these crimes.”

Mr Millar said any inquiry should examine the conduct of schools, councils, health services and other public bodies, including whether opportunities to protect vulnerable children had been missed.

He added: “We need to understand why opportunities to intervene were missed and whether institutional failings allowed abuse to continue unchecked.

“We must ensure justice for victims, hold perpetrators to account and get to grips with any systemic failings that allowed such abuse to take place.”

Peter Fox MS, the party’s Shadow Minister for Local Government and Communities, said he had been deeply shocked by the allegations, particularly reports that the alleged victims had been in care.

“Our hearts go out to the victims who have bravely come forward during this investigation,” he said.

“They have suffered so much and for too long. Justice must now prevail.”

The Welsh Conservatives have repeatedly pressed the Welsh Government to establish a national inquiry examining the scale of group-based child sexual exploitation in Wales and the response of public authorities.

The charges have not yet been tested in court. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.