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News

Council u-turn over school closures following ‘attempt to bully’ charity trustees

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School changes: Council have made a U-turn on recent plans

School changes: Council have made a U-turn on recent plans

A CONTROVERSIAL reorganisation of education provision in Haverfordwest appears to have been put on the back burner, following a number of protests and the threat of legal action.

Under the plans, Tasker Milward School would have been closed, and an 11-16 ‘superschool would have been created on the Sir Thomas Picton School site.  A Welsh-medium school was to have been built on the Tasker Milward site.

The sixth form provision for the town would have been based at Pembrokeshire College.

The plans created uproar in Haverfordwest, with many people complaining that pupils in the town would have a lack of education choices compared to those living in areas of the county with school-based sixth form provision.

As The Herald revealed, the council also faced a possible legal battle with the trustees of the Tasker Milward and Picton charity, which owns the land on which Tasker Milward is built.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Director for Children and Schools, Kate Evan-Hughes, wrote a reportwhich said that since July 16, when PCC realised the extent of the potential legal issues and the present ‘offers to meet with the Trustees of the Tasker Milward and Picton Charity have not resulted in a meeting.

‘In order to progress the development of education provision for pupils in north, west and south Pembrokeshire – a fundamental part of the strategy to improve standards, it is proposed to postpone the element relating to Haverfordwest to enable further discussion in pursuit of a mutually agreeable solution that meets the case for change and the imperative to improve standards of attainment for young people.’

BULLYING
Former council leader Maurice Hughes confirmed today that attempts to arrange a meeting between the trustees and the local authority had been taking place between the parties’ legal representatives.Mr Hughes praised Stephen Hill of Price and Son in Haverfordwest for his diligence in dealing with the Council and told our reporter: “The Council was not prepared to meet our conditions for a meeting, which was a promise to keep an 11-19 school in Haverfordwest. In addition, the Council wished to impose conditions of its own before any meeting took place.”Mr Hughes then proceeded to disclose that the Council had threatened to build a new 11-16 school on a third site in Haverfordwest in order to bypass the objections of the charitable trust: “Personally,” Mr Hughes said, “I regard that as nothing short of an attempt to bully and blackmail the Trust into giving way.”

He continued: “The Council mucked up the consultation and was told it had before it started.  It seems to me that a lot of time, effort, and money is being spent by the Council trying to get itself out a mess it made itself and which was completely avoidable. If I was still Council leader, I would not be very happy with the officer responsible for that happening.”

However, Maurice Hughes was not condemnatory of the attitude and action of all council officers: “Ian Westley, the new Chief Executive, came to my house to see me one evening and stayed for over two hours as we chatted around the issues. He had been briefed, that is obvious, I guessed by Kate Evans-Hughes (Director of Education). We spoke informally about a few ways of resolving the difficulties. I told him what I’ll say to you, the Education Department should have sorted this out before the consultation and not tried to ride roughshod over the Trust and local people.

“When there are claims of seeking a mutually satisfactory outcome to negotiations, what the Education Department means is getting its own way.”

On the decision to site a Welsh-medium school in Haverfordwest at a third site, Maurice Hughes commented that it appeared to be a case of the Education Department cutting of their nose to spite their face and wondered whether it was a sign of trying to force the trustees to give way.

“Of course,” Maurice said, “we’ve never had any objection to a Welsh-medium school being based on trust land. That’s a red herring. The issue – the only issue – is the provision of 11-19 schooling on one site in Haverfordwest. It seems to me that talking about consultation with us and then telling parents of children in St Davids that their children will be going to Pembrokeshire College after the age of sixteen, gives the game away about just how much consultation and compromise the Education Department has in mind.”

The Saveour6thform campaign group are delighted to note that the Extraordinary Council Meeting scheduled for 10th September 2015 recommending the closure of both Haverfordwest Secondary schools will be postponed to allow for further considerations.
We trust that the new recommendation will incorporate the needs of the County town to continue with the provision of choice for the already viable 11-19 School in Haverfordwest.
3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Dave unwin

    September 5, 2015 at 10:02 am

    We just have to stick with it until next May then we have a golden opportunity to kick this shower into touch. I hope that the local press will list the voting record of councillors especially the governing council just before the election so that the voting public can make a judgment call on how well their local Councillor has represented their interests.

  2. tomos

    September 5, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    surely if your councillor is an IPiG councillor then that’s all you need to know ? 🙂

  3. tomos

    September 5, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    PS bullying? surely that’s standard operating procedure at PCC – FULL STOP!

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Crime

West Wales Farmer groomed teenage girl using cash and manipulation

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A MIDDLE-AGED farmer has been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after grooming a teenage girl, coercing her into sending intimate pictures and videos.

David Lewis, 50, met the then 14-year-old girl at a farm in August 2021 and later added her on Facebook. Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins told the court: “After a few months of messaging, the defendant sent [the girl] a picture of his penis.”

Lewis from the West Carmarthenshire village of Llanboidy, manipulated the girl into sending explicit images, begging her to comply and telling her: “If you loved me, you would send me photographs.” He also sent her £120 over four separate occasions and told her she could live with him when she turned 16.

Explicit videos exchanged on Snapchat

Ms. Smith-Higgins said Lewis sent “five or six” videos of himself masturbating via Snapchat. When he asked the girl to send similar videos, she initially refused, saying she was about to leave home. However, Lewis checked her Snapchat location, discovered she was not going out, and continued to pressure her until she sent a video.

The girl later attempted to deter Lewis by telling him that the police were tracking her phone. Despite this, Lewis persisted, sending her three sexual photos and two explicit videos of himself.

Discovery and arrest

The girl’s mother became suspicious and checked her daughter’s phone, discovering explicit pictures of Lewis. Police were alerted, and Lewis was arrested on July 22, 2022.

During their investigation, officers found deleted photos of the girl on Lewis’s phone and messages where he told her: “Delete all Snapchats. Have police interview” and “Delete your photos.”

Lewis denied any wrongdoing during his police interview, claiming there had been no communication between him and the girl and that there would be no images of her on his phone. However, officers recovered three Category A images – the most severe classification – and six Category C images of the girl.

Court proceedings

Lewis, pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch a sexual act, sexual communication with a child, and two counts of making indecent images of a child.

Hannah George, representing Lewis, told the court that he had no prior convictions and had not reoffended since the incidents. She argued that a suspended sentence was appropriate, stating: “The probation service has assessed that an immediate custodial sentence would have limited impact, as it would not allow Mr. Lewis to complete the rehabilitation courses he desperately needs.”

Ms. George also cited delays in the case coming to court.

Sentencing

Judge Geraint Walters described Lewis’s actions as calculated and predatory. “The reality is that you were grooming her,” he said. “You are 50 years of age and should know better. You knew what you were doing was wrong.”

Lewis was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 35 sessions of an accredited rehabilitation programme and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He must register as a sex offender for 10 years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period. The court also imposed an indefinite restraining order to protect the victim.

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News

Ambitious Pembrokeshire wildlife centre plans approved

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PLANS to modernise the Welsh Wildlife Centre near Cardigan with a new public entrance and a raft of other works which will make it more accessible to all have been approved Pembrokeshire County Council.

The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales sought permission for a long list of changes at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran, including an extension to the visitor centre building and associated works, with a new public entrance, a new pathway connection, reconfiguration of the vehicle turning area and disabled parking bays, a replacement footbridge, and the introduction of ‘Brise Soleil’ to the south and west.

A supporting statement, by Childs Sulzmann Architects, said: “The visitor centre was built in the 1990s with an award-winning concept design. However, the usability of the building and some elements of its condition have deteriorated over the years, requiring modernisation.

“In particular, access to the visitor centre for people on the approach to the building is confusing and unclear, with external entrance doors provided at each side of the building. For instance, visitors can often be found in the offices on the lower ground floor level by mistake, whilst looking for the shop or café which are provided on the upper floors.”

The Welsh Wildlife Centre welcomes an average of 70,000 visitors per year, the statement saying: “This important local facility and visitor attraction will be enhanced and improved, by providing a clear and legible single entrance to the building, together with re-configured accessible parking bays and a platform lift for wheelchair users and ambulant disabled people to directly access the new public entrance.

“Further improvements to accessibility, which include the new external stairway to the open terrace and public entrance, the widened replacement footbridge and the connecting path to link the accessible parking area with the main footpath to the visitor centre, will contribute to the principles of promoting and providing access for all.”

Plans for a new play area at the Welsh Wildlife Centre near Cardigan were recently approved by Pembrokeshire County Council.

The latest proposals were conditionally approved by county planners.

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News

Haverfordwest paedophile who was on Jeremy Kyle show, jailed

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ADRIAN JOHN THOMAS, 31, was sentenced to three years in prison last month for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) four times and failing to comply with notification requirements.

Thomas, who now has no fixed address, was originally issued the SHPO and a notification order in 2017 following his conviction for a serious child sexual offence. The court heard that he had breached the SHPO on 15 separate occasions, including his latest offences.

Upon his release from prison in October 2023, Thomas, who is well known in Haverfordwest for his ‘love rat’ appearance on the Jeremy Kyle show, initially moved to an approved address in Swansea. However, by January 2024, he relocated to Pembrokeshire, moving in with his mother, who lives in sheltered housing. Despite this, Thomas falsely registered with the police as having no fixed address, thereby violating his notification requirements.

Thomas further breached the SHPO by taking control of his mother’s iPhone against her wishes, locking it with a PIN and facial recognition. He then used the device to create two Instagram accounts, a Gmail account, and a Facebook account—all actions prohibited under the terms of the order. The court was told his actions caused significant distress to his mother, leaving her feeling trapped and powerless.

During sentencing at Swansea Crown Court on December 19, Thomas admitted to the breaches and the notification offence. His defence argued that he had moved in with his mother due to a lack of alternative accommodation and expressed remorse for his actions, adding that he had sought support for his mental health.

Judge Paul Thomas KC strongly condemned Thomas’s behaviour, stating:
“You seem completely determined to breach the sexual harm prevention order imposed after your conviction for a serious child sexual offence.
“You lied to police about where you were living. You used your mother’s phone against her wishes despite her begging you not to do so. You were on licence from an earlier offence.
“You have amassed a very bad record for offences of this type. You appear undeterrable in your refusal to abide by the sexual harm prevention order.”

Thomas was sentenced to a total of three years in prison for his latest offences.

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