News

Former police inspector subjected partner to a ‘sustained and bloody attack’

Published

5 years ago

April 1, 2021

A former police inspector subjected his partner to a sustained and bloody attack, repeatedly punching and kicking her before arming himself with a knife and striking her with it.

A drunk Paul Bonning was “frothing at the mouth” and screaming and shouting at the woman before dragging her off the sofa and assaulting her following a night out together.

The 54-year-old then told the bleeding woman not to go to bed as he did not want her blood on his white sheets, and warned her not to report the assault to the police as he knew people “high up” in the force.

Swansea Crown Court heard that prior to the attack Bonning had served 30 years with the Met Police in London and with Dyfed-Powys Police.

Ian Wright, prosecuting, said on the evening of Sunday, July 1, 2018 Bonning and his then partner had been out for the night before going back to the defendant’s home in Pembroke.

He said the defendant continued drinking alcohol as the couple sat on the sofa talking, with the former inspector consuming beer, wine, gin, and whisky.

However, Bonning suddenly lost his temper following a comment the woman made about taking a woman back to his address, and he began shouting and screaming at his partner.

The court heard the victim described how the defendant “lost it” and was “frothing at the mouth” before dragging her off the sofa and repeatedly kicking and punching her to the body.

Mr Wright said Bonning then retrieved a black-handled knife from the kitchen and brandished it at his partner and as the woman tried to leave the room he struck her on the back of the head, it is thought with the handle of the weapon.

The court heard the head wound began bleeding profusely, and Bonning told her she needed to go to hospital – but he then went to bed, telling her not to join him as he did not want blood on on his white sheets.

The following morning the defendant went to work – at the time he was working as an Asda delivery driver – and told his partner to lie to doctors about the injury, and say she had hurt herself by falling over.

After talking to a friend the victim went to Haverfordwest’s Withybush Hospital where she did what Bonning had told her to, and told staff she had been involved in an accident. However, when medics questioned her and saw the extent of the bruising on her body they suspected there had been a domestic violence incident and contacted police.

The court heard the woman suffered a 10cm cut to the top of her head along with bruising to the upper arms – bruising which “had the appearance of finger marks” – and bruises and tenderness to her back and shoulder.

Bonning gave a “no comment” interview to police, the woman did not make a complaint of an assault, and no further action was taken.

Mr Wright said following the attack the pair met on a local beach with Bonning telling the woman not to go to the police, telling her she was a bad liar, and adding “the police will suck it out of you – that is what they do”.

The prosecutor said Bonning was subsequently served with a domestic violence protection notice but once that expired the couple stayed in touch and, though there was no further physical violence in the relationship, the defendant was verbally abusive. The relationship finally ended in January 2019, and later that year the victim went to the police to report the earlier assault.

The court heard the woman told officers that Bonning had said he “knew people high up in the police force” and she had been concerned about the consequences of reporting an assault by a former officer, was worried nobody would believe her. She also said she felt the defendant had “emotionally blackmailed” her into saying nothing.

In a victim impact statement read to the court the woman said while the physical scars had healed, the emotional ones had not. She said she had felt too ashamed about what happened to ask her family for help, relives the attack every day, and has been left feeling “vulnerable, betrayed and worthless”.

Bonning, of East Back, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Dean Pulling, for Bonning, said prior to the assault the defendant had 30 years “distinguished service” as a police officer in the Met and then Dyfed-Powys Police.

He said his client was, to use his own words, “almost burnt out” by the time he retired from policing, was suffering with stress and depression and potentially from post-traumatic stress disorder, and for the first time in his life had been drinking to excess.

The barrister said a pre-sentence report concluded Bonning posed a low risk of re-offending, and said beyond punishment a term of immediate custody would serve little or no benefit.

Recorder Ifan Wyn Lloyd Jones told the defendant domestic violence was a serious problem in society, and one which the courts took seriously.

He told Bonning he had subjected his partner to a sustained attack, and said a woman had suffered injury at his hands.

The recorder said the defendant had thrown away his good character but that he was satisfied Bonning was now remorseful for his actions, and that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in in his case.

Giving the defendant credit for his guilty plea the recorder sentenced him to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete a rehabilitation course and a building better relationships course. The recorder also ordered Bonning to pay his victim £2,000 in compensation, and to pay £720 towards prosecution costs.

Crime

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

Published

4 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

5 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

6 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.