Superintendent Chris Neve returned to frontline duties to work alongside his 19-year-old daughter, PC Abi Neve, in a shift the force said neither will forget

DYFED-POWYS POLICE have shared the story of a father-and-daughter response team who recently worked side by side on duty.

Superintendent Chris Neve stepped back onto the frontline for the shift, joining his daughter, PC Abi Neve, as part of Response Policing Week.

The force said Abi grew up listening to her father’s stories about policing and was inspired to follow the same path, often imagining how rewarding it would be to help people in need.

Speaking about the experience, Abi said: “Before work that day, he was just my dad, but as soon as our shift began, he became my boss and my colleague.

“He has always looked after me since I was born, so it was nice for me to be able to have his back, if needed, for a change.”

Dyfed-Powys Police said it was a moment Chris had long been looking forward to.

Reflecting on the shift, he said working alongside his daughter while supporting victims brought comfort in difficult situations.

He added that while there are times a parent wonders whether their child is still too young, Abi was more than capable of handling herself on response.

Chris said he was proud of the woman she had become and was looking forward to hearing more of her stories as her policing career continues.

The force described the pair as the “ultimate response father/daughter duo” and said it was a shift that would stay with both officers long after Response Policing Week came to an end.

Photo caption:

Family shift: Superintendent Chris Neve and PC Abi Neve on duty together for Dyfed-Powys Police during Response Policing Week (Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police).

Labour points to “real progress” on treatment backlogs as surgeons and Conservatives warn the next Welsh Government still faces a huge task

WELSH LABOUR leader and First Minister Eluned Morgan has claimed “real progress” is being made on NHS waiting times in Wales after new figures showed the treatment backlog fell for the ninth month in a row.

Latest NHS data published on Thursday (Apr 23) showed there were 687,958 referral-to-treatment pathways waiting to start treatment at the end of February, down from more than 713,000 in January. The average wait for treatment also fell to 16.7 weeks.

In a statement issued by Welsh Labour, Morgan said: “Nine months in a row waiting lists have fallen in Wales, the biggest sustained drop on record. That’s real progress improving access to outpatient appointments and treatment across Wales driven by NHS staff.”

She said Welsh Labour had prioritised bringing down waiting lists and long waits, adding that the average wait had fallen from 23 weeks when she became First Minister to 16.7 weeks now.

Morgan also said the waiting list had dropped by around 70,000 in the past three months.

In a pointed political attack ahead of the Senedd election on Thursday, May 7, she criticised Plaid Cymru, saying: “Plaid say people shouldn’t expect change in 100 days. That tells you everything about their priorities. While they make excuses, we’re delivering.”

She added: “Only Welsh Labour has a plan to keep the waiting lists falling and only Welsh Labour can stop that progress being put at risk on May 7th.”

But while the overall waiting list has continued to fall, the wider NHS picture remains much more difficult.

A total of 105,559 patient pathways were still waiting more than a year for treatment in February, while 4,517 were waiting more than two years. Although both figures are significantly lower than they were a year earlier, they remain far above where ministers had hoped to be by now.

Cancer performance also remains well below target. Only 57 per cent of patients started cancer treatment within the 62-day target in February, unchanged on the previous month and still far short of the 75 per cent standard.

Emergency care pressures are also continuing to mount.

In March, only 64.2 per cent of patients spent less than four hours in emergency departments, well below the 95 per cent target. At the same time, 10,939 patients waited 12 hours or more in A&E, worse than the previous month.

Ambulance performance also slipped. The median response time for the most serious red calls was 9 minutes and 25 seconds in March, again missing the target and slightly worse than in February.

The latest figures prompted a warning from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which said patients in Wales are still waiting too long for surgery and urged the next Welsh Government to act.

The College said recent improvements were welcome, but argued that progress remained too slow and too dependent on short-term fixes rather than long-term increases in NHS capacity.

Professor Jon Barry, Director in Wales at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Behind today’s figures, the last before the Senedd election, are thousands of people still waiting for surgery, living with pain, uncertainty, and the risk that their condition will deteriorate.

“Progress has been made, but not at the pace patients need, and this is the challenge the next Welsh Government will face.

“Surgical hubs can help reduce cancellations and increase capacity, but only if there are enough trained staff to run them. Without a long-term workforce plan, patients will continue to face delays.

“Whoever forms the next Welsh Government must be ready to deliver real improvement on waiting times. Patients in Wales have been waiting far too long for an NHS they can rely on to help them get on with their lives.”

The College said Wales risked falling further behind the rest of the UK unless progress accelerates in expanding long-term surgical capacity, including more accredited surgical hubs and a credible workforce plan.

It also highlighted ongoing problems with access to operating theatres, saying many surgeons in Wales believe lack of theatre time remains a major barrier to reducing delays.

Welsh Conservatives seized on the latest figures, arguing they exposed a wider NHS failure despite the reduction in waiting lists.

Commenting on the data, Welsh Conservative health spokesman Peter Fox said: “After repeated promises to cut waiting lists, these latest figures lay bare Labour and Plaid’s record over the past 27 years; missed targets, broken promises and patients paying the price.

“Cancer waiting times are worsening, fewer patients are starting treatment on time, and there is no sign of improvement. Meanwhile, A&E delays and ambulance red call waits are getting worse, a clear sign the system is under growing pressure.

“The Welsh Conservatives have a credible plan to fix our NHS. We will declare a health emergency, increase the number of beds in our hospitals and create a Cancer Treatments Fund so that doctors can use the most innovative, life-saving treatments for cancer.”

Conservative figures comparing Wales with England also pointed to a stark difference in the number of very long waits. In February, Wales still had 4,517 pathways waiting more than two years, compared with 189 in England.

However, Labour will point to the fact that the overall treatment backlog in Wales is now at its lowest level for nearly three years, and that the longest waits have been cut sharply over the past 12 months.

The latest figures are the last scheduled NHS performance release before voters go to the polls in the Senedd election.

They give Welsh Labour evidence that planned care is moving in the right direction, but they also underline the scale of the challenge still facing hospitals, patients and the next Welsh Government.

Pembroke Dock defendant faces charges spanning from 1984 to 2008

A MAN from Pembroke Dock is standing trial at Swansea Crown Court accused of a series of historic sexual offences alleged to have taken place over a 24-year period.

Anthony Kenniford, of Britannia Drive, denies 13 counts including indecent assault, indecency with a child, rape, attempted rape, and sexual activity with a child.

The trial is being heard before His Honour Judge Geraint Walters. Kenniford has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The jury was told that the indictment now before the court runs from 1984 to 2008 and gives fuller particulars of the allegations than at the earlier magistrates’ court stage.

Some counts relate to allegations said to have taken place between May 1984 and May 1986. Further counts concern alleged offences said to have occurred between April 1984 and April 1988.

The court also heard allegations dating from between January 2000 and November 2003, including claims of indecency with a child, indecent assault, rape and attempted rape. Additional counts relate to alleged offences said to have taken place between September 2000 and August 2003, while the most recent allegation on the indictment concerns sexual activity with a child between April and September 2008.

Opening the case, the prosecution alleged Kenniford targeted boys known to him over a number of years, including family members and friends of his son.

The jury heard allegations of grooming behaviour, with claims that some of the boys were offered money or gifts, and in some cases exposed to sexualised behaviour and pornography before or during the alleged abuse.

One of the first complainants referred to in the prosecution case was a young relative who, the jury heard, alleged that Kenniford invited him into bed at his grandparents’ home before touching him indecently. The court was also told of a further allegation that, on another occasion, the boy was invited into the defendant’s home, where it is alleged he was offered money to touch the defendant sexually.

Further allegations concern another complainant, who the jury heard was between the ages of seven and ten at the time of the alleged offences. The court was told that this complainant alleges he was asked to engage in sexual acts at the defendant’s address and that years later a text message was received which allegedly referred back to the earlier abuse.

The prosecution also outlined allegations involving the defendant’s son, who the jury heard was a child at the time. It is alleged that incidents took place over a number of years in the family home, including in the bathroom, and that the abuse escalated to rape and attempted rape.

Another complainant, described as a friend of the defendant’s son, alleges he was abused in a garage after becoming friendly with the family. The jury heard claims that he was shown pornographic material, indecently assaulted, and given gifts including money and computer games.

A further complainant alleges that, in 2008, after becoming friendly with the defendant’s son, he received inappropriate messages and was later taken to the defendant’s home, where sexual activity allegedly took place in the garage.

During proceedings, jurors heard a recorded police interview conducted in June 2021 with one complainant, who described what he said were his earliest memories of abuse from the age of five.

In that interview, the complainant alleged he was taken from the area of the Red Roses pub in Pembroke Dock to the Fire House on Co-operation Terrace, where he said he was offered small amounts of money to remove his clothes and spend time with the defendant.

The complainant later gave evidence before the jury and appeared visibly distressed at times during questioning. He forcefully rejected the defence case and insisted the events described were not something he could have forgotten.

The jury also heard from another complainant, who similarly rejected suggestions put to him by the defence and described the defendant as a “bad man”.

Family witnesses also gave evidence. One witness told the court that, in 2021, her brother disclosed that he had been abused as a child. Another witness said concerns had been raised within the family many years earlier, when children were said to have complained that the defendant had asked to see their genitals.

The court heard that Kenniford was first arrested on May 12, 2021. In police interview, he denied allegations made against him.

Kenniford previously appeared before magistrates, where earlier historic allegations were sent to Swansea Crown Court because of their seriousness. At that stage he denied the accusations and was granted conditional bail, including a condition that he must not contact the complainants.

The trial is expected to last two weeks and continues at Swansea Crown Court.

The complainants cannot be identified for legal reasons.