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‘Outrageously’ dangerous driver jailed

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A PEMBROKE DOCK woman who jumped a police road block has been jailed for eight months.

Louise Davies, aged 40, later clipped a police officer’s hand after refusing to stop for a second time.

Davies, of Laws Street, admitted dangerous driving.

Carina Hughes, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court how at 5.55am on August 16, police had set a road block on the A4777 in Pembroke Dock because there had been reports of a horse running loose on the carriageway.

Several drivers had already stopped before Davies approached. But she simply drove on.

An officer at the start of the block alerted a colleague at the other end but Davies also ignored him and passed within one metre of him.

Miss Hughes said a police alert was sent out and Davies was next seen parked outside Carmarthen Police Station.

An officer approached her car but she suddenly screeched away, performed a wheel spin and raced off, hitting his outstretched hand and mounting a grass verge.

Shortly afterwards, Davies was seen parked on a grass verge outside Dyfed-Powys Police headquarters near Carmarthen. She again sped away.

Officers formed the opinion, said Miss Hughes, that she was undergoing some sort of nervous breakdown.

Ian Ibrahim, the barrister representing Davies, said the case was ‘a tragedy all round’.

He said Davies was a single mother of three children who worked full time but had also been studying for a degree, which she had obtained.

However, she had also been taking tablets to help her to cope.

Mr Ibrahim said Davies had been in such a state that she thought the initial road block had been for her alone.

Judge Geraint Walters said he suspected ‘there was a great deal more’ behind why Davies had behaved the way she had.

But her driving had been ‘outrageously’ dangerous.

“Your conduct was bizarre. The police tried to box you in, treading carefully.

“This is a hugely unusual case for reasons I still don’t fully understand,” he added.

Davies was also banned from driving for 12 months – a ban that will not start until she has completed her jail sentence at Eastwood Park women’s prison, near Bristol.

 

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Crime

Drink-driver has four-year ban lifted early after telling court he has transformed his life

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Pembroke man says he no longer drinks and needs his licence to keep his job and support his young son

A DISQUALIFIED driver has had his ban lifted early after telling magistrates he has transformed his life and is now focused on his young son, his health and maintaining steady employment.

“I’m a totally different person now,” Marcus Llewellyn told Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week.

“I want to keep my employment and have a structured plan for the future, for me and for my little boy. I no longer drink and I have a totally different lifestyle from the one I had back then.”

The court heard that Llewellyn, 31, was convicted on November 28, 2023, of driving with 41 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Although the reading was comparatively low, he was disqualified from driving for four years because it was his third drink-driving conviction. His previous offences were committed when he was aged 20 and 24.

The court was told that a disqualified driver may apply for the early removal of a ban once a specified period has been served.

Llewellyn, of Devon Drive, Pembroke, said he is employed as a pipefitter at Hinkley Point power station, where he works a shift pattern of ten days on and ten days off.

“Public transport is scarce around here, and there have been times when I’ve had to miss work,” he said.

“My employers obviously aren’t too keen on this.

“I’ve also got no means of getting home in an emergency. Just before Christmas, my son fell off his bike and split his head open, and I wasn’t able to get home to be with him.”

After considering his application and the circumstances outlined to the court, magistrates granted Llewellyn’s request for the early removal of his driving disqualification.

 

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Crime

Five-year stalking order imposed on Pembroke Dock man

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Court hears woman was followed to remote locations, threatened and left feeling “like a sitting duck”

A WOMAN has told magistrates she lives in fear after allegedly being persistently tracked, intimidated and threatened by her former husband.

Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court heard that Michael Sutton repeatedly followed the woman to remote locations, turned up at her workplace and appeared to know details of private conversations with family members.

“This man is considered a risk,” solicitor Sally Rogers, acting on behalf of Dyfed-Powys Police, told the court.

“She knows that he carries a Stanley knife everywhere he goes, and this is undoubtedly adding to her fear.”

The court heard that Sutton, 48, of Victoria Road, Pembroke Dock, had been in a relationship with the woman for approximately 17 years. However, when the relationship ended in May 2025, he was allegedly unable to accept the separation.

“He had previously displayed controlling and coercive behaviour towards her, and research shows that where this is the case, the risks associated with stalking are greater,” Ms Rogers said.

Despite being placed on police bail in February, Sutton allegedly continued to stalk his former wife.

“He continued making or sending unwanted social media posts, turned up at her place of work and repeatedly appeared at various locations, some of which were quite remote,” Ms Rogers said.

“He also bought a number of unwanted gifts, including Valentine’s cards and bunches of flowers, and said that if she ever entered a new relationship, he would slit her throat.

“These acts were fixated, obsessive and unwanted.”

Ms Rogers said the woman also believed Sutton may have installed a surveillance or listening device at her property.

“On one occasion, she told her son that they needed a new oven glove, and the following day a brand-new oven glove appeared at the property,” she said.

“On another occasion, a knife was found underneath her car seat, but she had no idea how it had got there.

“There are a lot of incidents that cannot be explained and, without a shadow of a doubt, this has placed her in fear.

“As a result, she rarely goes out. She feels like a sitting duck.”

After considering the evidence, magistrates imposed a full stalking protection order on Sutton, which will remain in force for five years.

 

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Crime

Fisherman admits safety offence after death of crewman off Pembs coast

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A PEMBROKESHIRE commercial fisherman has admitted failing to ensure his vessel was operated safely following the death of lobster fisherman Jack Walker off the coast of Pembrokeshire.

Adam Evans, aged 31, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week in connection with the operation of the fishing vessel FV Wilaya.

Evans owned the vessel when Mr Walker, aged 35, was dragged overboard and drowned during a fishing operation near Jack Sound, close to Skomer Island, on May 1, 2025.

Jack Murphy KC, prosecuting on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said the offence came to light following the fatal incident.

“Adam Evans’ failure to ensure the boat was operating safely was discovered following the tragic accident when Jack Walker became entangled in a string of pots as he carried out a ‘shooting’ exercise,” he told the court.

Mr Murphy explained that “shooting” involves deploying baited and weighted lobster pots over the side of a vessel, allowing them to sink rapidly to the seabed as the attached rope runs out.

“Jack Walker was dragged into the sea and tragically drowned,” he said.

“This is a high-culpability case involving breaches of safety in which there was wilful blindness to the offending and a high likelihood of causing serious injury or death.”

The court heard that Evans had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew.

The prosecution said there had been failures to comply with essential requirements, codes of practice and guidance, including a lack of adequate safety measures and failures to carry out annual maintenance and safety checks.

Evans was also said not to have held the required first-aid training qualification.

At the time of the incident, the vessel was carrying a third person despite not being coded to carry passengers, the court heard.

Evans, of Harbour Way, Hakin, Milford Haven, was interviewed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on July 2 and made what the prosecution described as a series of frank admissions.

He pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure that FV Wilaya was operated safely at the time of Mr Walker’s death.

“There were a number of breaches here in relation to safety, particularly given the high-risk nature of fishing,” Mr Murphy said.

“As a result, I request that the case be committed to the Crown Court for sentence.”

District Judge Mark Layton declined jurisdiction and sent the case to Swansea Crown Court, where Evans is due to be sentenced on August 4.

He was released on unconditional bail.

 

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