News

Life sentence for depraved father after sexually abusing daughter

Published

7 years ago

August 17, 2018

A PAEDOPHILE described by a Crown Court judge as having ‘psychopathic tendencies’ and a ‘devious, wicked, and flawed personality’ has been jailed for life after pleading guilty to 16 counts of rape and sexual assault in a catalogue of abuse directed against his own daughter.

The child’s mother, who suffers from what the court was told was ‘battered person syndrome’, received a ten year sentence for her part in years of abuse.

CHILD MIGHT NEVER RECOVER

The Court heard that the man had effectively groomed his wife, whom he met when she was 16, and controlled access to medication she required for a mental health condition. The woman, now in her 20s, was ordered to be detained in a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

On sentencing the pair at Swansea Crown Court, HHJ Geraint Walters QC ordered that the father, in his 50s, go to prison for a minimum of twelve years and was only to be released if and when it was determined that he did not pose a risk to children. Judge Walters observed it was possible that might never happen.

To protect their victim/daughter, the Court has ordered a blanket ban on reporting the parents’ names and the name of the west Wales town in which they perpetrated their appalling crimes.

HHJ Walters said that it was hard to see how their daughter could ever recover from the depravity inflicted upon her.

During her eight years in west Wales, the child never went to school, played outside, saw a cat or a dog or had a friend.

‘HOME SCHOOLING’ CONCEALED ABUSE

The husband’s ‘home-schooling’ of his daughter was only camouflage for effectively keeping her as a sex slave, said the Judge: “Not exactly locking her in a cellar but not far from it.”

There were padlocks on all the doors and the curtains were always kept closed.

The girl was never allowed out and, consequently, had never played with friends, or gone swimming. She had never seen Christmas lights and had no concept of a celebration.

Prosecuting Council Robin Rouch told the Court that the ‘tightly controlled home environment’ was created by the father to ‘systematically and regularly abuse’ his daughter without being discovered.

The cycle of abuse only ended when the wife left the husband and reported him to the police.

When police raided the couple’s home they found evidence of systematic, long-term child abuse inflicted on the daughter by both parents. Their investigation also revealed that the father had also abused a daughter of a previous marriage.

A spokesperson for NSPCC Cymru said: “The prolonged abuse – physical, sexual and emotional – suffered by this young victim is appalling and deeply disturbing.

“The role a parent is to protect and support their child, but the couple in this case simply saw in their daughter an opportunity to inflict repeated sexual attacks.”

CALL FOR HOME SCHOOLED REGISTER

The case has reignited calls for home-schooled children to be registered by local authorities and for more active monitoring of the welfare of those children who received education outside traditional schooling.

Mid and West Wales AM Helen Mary Jones said: “The vast majority of home-schooling is a good choice made by good parents, but we know there is a small minority where things go wrong and I believe we should have those children registered – we should know they’re being home-schooled.

“I also think an annual medical check – it’s quite common when children are in primary school, they may see the school dentist or the school nurse – as a precaution, it would be really useful.”

The case has drawn comparisons with the case of Dylan Seabridge, who was effectively invisible to social and health services and who died of scurvy whilst being ‘home-schooled’ in 2011.

Dylan Seabridge – who lived in a remote Pembrokeshire community with his parents and older sibling – died of scurvy in December 2011 aged eight-years-old.

Criminal proceedings against Dylan’s parents in relation to their son’s death were halted over concerns about his mother’s mental health.

There were no allegations of sexual abuse in the Seabridge case.

GOVERNMENT TOO SLOW TO ACT

An independent report into the death of Dylan Seabridge written by Gladys Rhodes White OBE, a national expert in safeguarding and child protection, recommended that the Welsh Government change the law so that the details of all elective home educated children are kept on a register and that they are seen and spoken to and their wishes recorded on an annual basis.

At present there is no such requirement and the law does not state any general requirement for parents to inform the education directorate if their child or children were never on a school roll.

Home education’s supporters say that registration would be an unwarranted intrusion into families’ lives. In addition they claim that there is no evidence to support a contention that home-schooled children are at a greater risk of neglect than those attending a state school. There is also a distinction between those children who are home-schooled and those who are ‘kept at home’ for other reasons.

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland disagrees: “I’ve been calling for the government to act in a stronger way, so have all the directors of education in Wales, all the directors of social services and the government’s own independent safeguarding board.

“For me the pace of change has been too slow and hasn’t been strong enough to ensure every child gets the right to an education to be safe and to have their say.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Earlier this year the education secretary announced plans to consult on regulations that will require local authorities to establish a database to identify children not on a school register.
“We are also reviewing and updating national protection procedures to examine how social services and education practitioners can work together and share information to ensure children who are home-schooled get the support they need.”

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

11 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

12 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

13 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.