News
Murder victim was stabbed 40 times
A TENBY woman allegedly murdered will blame her boyfriend from beyond the grave, a jury heard on Wednesday.
Joanna Elizabeth Hall, aged 30, survived for 19 days after she was stabbed 40 times at her home in Cresswell Street in the centre of the town.
Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting at Swansea crown court, said Miss Hall was conscious enough to tell medics and relatives she had been attacked by Steven Daniel Williams, also 30.
She was even well enough, for a while, to make a formal police statement repeating the allegation. The jury at Swansea crown court has also heard how armed police had to threaten Williams after responding to a 999 call. Williams has denied stabbing Miss Hall 40 times and then allegedly waiting all night before calling for help. By then it was too late and Miss Hall died on April 4, 2013, 19 days after being attacked.
The jury heard today what happened when Williams, of Newell Hill, 25 Marsh Road, Tenby, finally dialled 999.
He told the emergency operator “It must have happened a couple of hours ago.”
When police arrived they noticed Williams was standing in the road outside Miss Hall’s home and did not call them over and show them where to go.
Armed police approached him and noticed he was bleeding from a wound to his left ear.
“He was incoherent and unhelpful,” added Miss Evans. “He became agitated. Officers restrained him and put the red dot of a taser on him.”
Williams told police initially that he had gone out “for five minutes to get some fags.”
When he returned Miss Hall had been stabbed “and her intestines were hanging out.”
Williams was arrested and taken to Haverfordwest police station. During the journey he was volatile, “smiling one moment, angry the next.”
On his arrest for attempted murder, Williams told police they could “**** shove it up your arses.”
He also said, “My solicitor will sort it out and the arresting officers will be out of a job.”
Miss Evans said back at Cresswell Street the armed officers found Miss Hall lying in the lounge wrapped in a blood soaked duvet taken from a bedroom.
She was flown by air ambulance to Swansea’s Morriston Hospital. In the helicopter a medic asked her if her “fellow” had stabbed her and she replied, yes. Miss Hall said she had been stabbed while lying on the floor. Williams had apologised but then stabbed her again.
Meanwhile, at Haverfordwest police station, officers asked Williams about the injury to his ear. He said he had injured himself skateboarding two days earlier.
“He was lying. There was fresh blood in the sink (at Miss Hall’s flat). The injuries were inflicted by Joanna while she was able to try to defend herself,” added Miss Evans.
Earlier, the jury was told Williams may have sat alongside his fatally injured victim “all night” before dialling 999.
Williams, said Miss Evans, was to claim to police that a stranger must have entered Miss Hall’s two bedroom flat while he was out for 10 minutes buying cigarettes. But, Miss Evans told the jury, CCTV cameras showed that no-one entered the street during that time.
In her opening address, Miss Evans said of the living only Williams, known as Sparrow, knew what happened inside Miss Hall’s flat on March 16, “and he isn’t saying.”
But before Miss Hall died she gave accounts to several people and even made a witness statement. She told her sister, Georgina Marwick, from her death bed at Swansea’s Morriston hospital, that Williams had turned up at her flat “drunk on whisky.”
According to Mrs Marwick, Miss Hall told her, “He flipped. He tried to rip a radiator off the wall. He stabbed me. I asked him to ring for help and he said ‘no’
“He said I would have to take my own life or he would do it for me.
“If I told anyone he would come back and finish me off
“He said he did not want to kill me but he did not want to go back into prison. He sat with me all night.
“He said, ‘will you just die.’ In the morning he went to a shop and told me not to run off.”
Williams is also alleged to have said to Miss Hall, “Aren’t you dead yet?”
In a witness statement to police, Miss Hall said Williams walked from the kitchen to the lounge holding a knife. She asked him what he was going to do with it and he replied, “Watch me.”
Miss Evans said although Williams would not say what happened the prosecution had been able to build a clear picture by putting together footage from the “surprisingly” high number of CCTV cameras in Tenby town centre and mobile telephone traffic.
At 5.20pm on March 15 Williams was at Tenby Cottage Hospital telling a nurse he thought he had “caught” something from having sex with a girl. The nurse could not diagnose him there and then and advised him to contact Care on Call.
That service tried to contact Williams at 8.50pm via Miss Hall’s Iphone but by then Williams had left her flat.
There followed a string of text messages from Miss Hall to Williams.
One read, “Cheers Steve. You just love breaking my heart don’t you, eh?”At 8.43pm she wrote, “Can’t believe I let myself fall for you.”
Two minutes later she wrote: “Don’t know why you keep coming back here. You have made it quite clear that you don’t want to be here.”At 9.01pm Williams was filmed buy a bottle of whisky at the Fiveways Garage. A police officer who knew him thought he was already drunk.
At 9.06pm Miss Hall telephoned a friend, Sean Dodd, and told him she had argued with Williams after he claimed to have “caught something” from her.
At 9.24pm, Miss Hall wrote to Williams saying: “You love making me cry, don’t you.”
In her last text message, sent at 11.15pm, Miss Hall told Williams there was something she needed to tell him and asked him to call around the next day.
“But he went back that night,” said Miss Evans.
Gabriel Roberts, who lived in the flat below Miss Hall’s, arrived home about 1.30am. She told police a man and a woman upstairs were arguing so loudly she put in earplugs to help her get to sleep.
By 3.07am Williams was using Miss Hall’s telephone to call a friend, Stephen Camp, and, said Miss Evans, it seemed the attack followed soon afterwards. Williams made repeated attempts to contact Mr Camp, but he was asleep. He finally got through at 7.24am and asked him to come to Cresswell Street. Mr Camp arrived at 8.05am. He saw Miss Hall on the floor and heard her whisper, “help me.”
Mr Camp said he panicked and told Williams to call the police. He was filmed leaving the flat at 8.09am
“So does he call 999?” asked Miss Evans. “No.”
But 10 minutes later he did make the call.
Business
Plaid energy policy challenged by Labour after Adam Price interview
LABOUR SAYS MINISTERS MUST EXPLAIN COST AND TIMETABLE FOR PYLON PLANS
PLAID CYMRU’S approach to energy infrastructure has come under scrutiny after Energy Minister Adam Price was challenged over plans to reduce the use of overhead pylons in Wales.
Mr Price defended the Welsh Government’s position during an appearance on BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement, arguing that communities must have greater confidence in how major grid projects are handled.
Plaid Cymru has pledged to give communities a stronger voice over energy developments and to look more closely at alternatives to overhead transmission lines, including underground cabling where possible.
The issue has become increasingly sensitive in rural parts of Wales, where proposed pylon routes linked to renewable energy schemes have raised concerns about landscape impact, tourism and local consultation.
However, Welsh Labour said the minister had failed to explain when any restriction on pylons would take effect, or who would pay the additional cost of placing cables underground.
A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “Adam Price keeps saying how clear their manifesto was and yet he won’t say when they’re banning pylons. They won’t say who is paying for the extra cost of undergrounding cables.
“Without certainty, companies won’t invest. That’s thousands of clean, green energy jobs at risk. Plaid need more than a plan to have a plan.”
Labour said the Welsh Government must now set out how its policy would work in practice, including whether it amounts to an outright ban, what exemptions would apply, and how any extra costs would be funded.
The debate highlights the challenge facing ministers as Wales seeks to expand renewable energy generation while addressing public opposition to large-scale grid infrastructure.
Community
Pembroke Fair praised as well-organised community event
HORSES, STALLS AND FAMILY CROWDS RETURN TO MONKTON
FAMILIES, horse owners and visitors turned out in force for Pembroke Fair on Saturday (May 23), with many praising the event as one of the best organised in recent years.
Held at the Community Centre Field in Monkton, the annual fair brought together horse owners, traders and local families for a traditional day centred around horses, ponies, stalls and socialising.
Coloured cobs, heavy horses, ponies and horse-drawn traps attracted attention throughout the day, with many visitors gathering around the field to watch the animals being shown and led around the site.



A variety of stalls selling everything from clothing and ornaments to tack and second-hand goods helped create a lively market atmosphere, while food vendors kept visitors fed throughout the day.
Despite overcast conditions at times, the event remained busy, with many attendees staying for several hours to enjoy the traditional fair atmosphere.
Community members later took to social media to praise the smooth running of the event, with several publicly thanking organiser Charlie Price for his efforts in bringing the fair together.
Comments described the day as “well organised” and praised the welcoming atmosphere, with many saying it was encouraging to see a long-standing local tradition continuing to thrive.
The fair once again brought together members of the travelling community, local residents and horse enthusiasts from across west Wales.






A horse drive was also due to take place on Sunday (May 24), continuing the weekend’s celebrations.
Photo captions:
Traditional gathering: Horses, ponies, horse-drawn carts and market stalls drew crowds to Pembroke Fair in Monkton on Saturday (Pic: Herald).
News
Watchdog criticises health board over £10m GP contract checks
A HEALTH board has been criticised by Audit Wales after GP contracts worth more than £10m were awarded without sufficient due diligence checks.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board allowed a GP partnership associated with eHarley Street Primary Care Solutions to take on eight GP contracts in south-east Wales, with a combined annual value of around £10.1m.
Audit Wales said the board should have carried out greater scrutiny before approving the arrangements, including checks on financial resilience, workforce plans, business risks and the partnership’s ability to manage several practices at once.
However, the watchdog found no evidence of fraud and noted the board was dealing with significant pressure in general practice, including vacant contracts and limited interest from other bidders.
The report said weaknesses in governance and scrutiny contributed to later disruption and uncertainty for patients and staff when problems emerged.
Concerns included financial and workforce pressures, unpaid invoices, and issues relating to tax and pension payments. Some contracts were later handed back, requiring the health board to step in to protect services.
Natasha Asghar MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Minister for Health and Social Care, said the findings were “deeply concerning”.
She said: “Patients and staff were left facing disruption and uncertainty because proper scrutiny was not carried out before these contracts were awarded.
“The Welsh Conservatives believe lessons must be learned to ensure robust checks are in place, protect frontline services and restore confidence in primary care across Wales.”
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board accepted the recommendations and said it had already strengthened its processes.
Audit Wales said the case highlighted the need for stronger checks before GP contracts are transferred, particularly when a single partnership is taking on multiple practices in a short period.
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