News

Police urge people not to assault emergency workers following attacks

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2021

DYFED-POWYS POLICE has issued an appeal for the public to work with us, not against us after a number of assaults on emergency workers in the past week.

It comes after a man who lunged at a police officer following a disturbance was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work.

Officers had attended a disturbance in Spilman Street, Carmarthen, on the evening of Saturday, 11 December, over reports of 20 people fighting.

When officers arrived, the situation had calmed slightly to pushing and shoving.

Officers were speaking to those involved and initially spoke with Robin Pitt, aged 40, who appeared calm.

However, when officers were dealing with another male, Pitt lunged at one of them from behind with his arm out.

PC Chris Day, who witnessed Pitt’s charge, stepped in to stop a potential assault on a colleague.

“I got in the middle of them,” said PC Day.

“He grabbed me so I’ve grabbed him and then he’s wrapped his arms around my head.

“When he took me to the ground I smashed my left knee into the floor causing several grazes and bruising.

“He landed on top of me, so I cut my hand while trying to get him off and some reddening to the left eye.

“There were abrasions on my face from all the struggling, it was like sandpaper on my face.”

PC Day said the assault had been unprovoked.

“It was out of the blue,” he said. “As I first attended I spoke with him and he was fine and calm with me.

“No-one ever expects to be assaulted when they go to work.

“As a police officer, you expect to deal with violent offenders, but we’re just doing our job and should not be attacked for doing it.”

Pitt admitted the assault at Llanelli Magistrates Court on 13 December.

He was given a 12-month community order, including 120 hours of unpaid work, costs of £85, a £95 victim surcharge, and £100 compensation.

This month Dyfed-Powys Police is supporting the emergency services’ #WithUsNotAgainstUs campaign being led by the Welsh Ambulance Service.

In one week this month, eight assaults were recorded on police or paramedics in the force area.

It is part of a rising trend, which has seen more than 4,240 assaults committed against emergency workers, including police, fire and ambulance crews, in the period April 2019 to November 2020. This represents a monthly average increase from 202 in 2019 to 222 in 2020, or 10%.

Assaults ranged from kicking, punching and head-butting, to spitting, slapping, biting and verbal abuse.

In 2018, the maximum sentence under the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act was doubled from six months to 12 months in prison, but criminals could soon face up to two years in prison under new laws.

Attacks on emergency workers:

When officers were called to a disturbance in Monkton on 9 December, they arrested a man, who kicked one officer and butted another.
Officers were called to a woman damaging a car in the Kidwelly area on 9 December. Once arrested, the woman lashed out kicking two officers to their legs.
When making an arrest in Llanelli on December 12, two officers were assaulted – one had their hair pulled, while the other was bitten on their hand.
On 12 December officers were called to Llanelli after a paramedic had been punched in her stomach by a patient in an ambulance.
Officers called to concern for the welfare of a man in the Aberystwyth area on 12 December. The man was located and offered support by officers but became abusive to an officer, including racial comments.
On 14 December officers were called to Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to reports of an intoxicated man with a child, who then refused treatment for the child. He was found in a car outside, and when approached by officers became aggressive, squaring up to officers and bystanders, swearing at them. He then lunged at an officer, spitting in their face. Once he was in a police custody suite, he again lashed out at another officer, kicking them to the shin.
On 14 December officers attended a property in Carmarthen and spoke with an occupant who lashed out at officers and had to be restrained. Two officers were kicked to their legs during the disturbance.

News

Welsh Lib Dems urge First Minister to return dodgy donation

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the First Minister to return the £200,000 donation he received from a company linked to environmental crimes.

Speaking to the Senedd on Wednesday, party leader Jane Dodds MS urged FM Vaughan Gething to return money donated to his campaign by Dauson Environmental, a refuse and recycling business owned by David John Neal.

Mr Neal received a 3-month suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste at a conservation site on the Gwent levels.

His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and given fines and costs of £202,000.

Then in 2017, Mr Neal was given another suspended sentence of 18 weeks, with fines and costs of £230,000 after failing to remove the waste.

The Welsh Lib Dems have called on the FM to return the donation, as part of wider calls for a shift away from the influence of “big money” in Welsh politics.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“This entire episode has casted a dark shadow upon Welsh democracy and has rightfully led to many questioning the integrity of Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign and the way our democracy works here in Wales.

Unfortunately for many of us this is hardly surprising, as our political system has been broken for quite some time now.

A system that empowers the elite donor class whilst simultaneously shutting out the voice of the voter is a perversion of democracy itself.

This is why our wider goal must be to remove the influence of ‘big money’ from Welsh politics once and for all.

We cannot have another government that prioritises the interests of its financial benefactors over those of the Welsh people.

We need to take a firm stance in rooting out the influence of cash in Welsh politics, for the sake of our communities we must start prioritising their interests and needs instead of having more self-serving politicians.”

News

Council seeking legal advice to address Withyhedge enforcement

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE County Council says it has sought legal advice and is contemplating legal proceedings against Withyhedge Landfill operators RML, in regards to the ongoing odour issues at the site.

The Council intends to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to abate the public nuisance odour arising from the landfill. Failure to comply with the injunction would be contempt of court, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and unlimited fine.

Following significant work undertaken by RML the Authority is disappointed that the problem has not been resolved and residents continue to be impacted by the odour.

Working in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Public Health Wales (PHW), we fully appreciate that the communities affected cannot tolerate this any longer.

NRW announced that the first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action on 18th April.

This will be closely monitored by NRW to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May.

It was deemed appropriate to wait until the operator had carried out mitigation to comply with the enforcement requirements by NRW prior to considering this additional action.

To that end, on 26th April 2024, the Council served RML with a letter of claim and invited them to give legally binding undertakings to abate the odour nuisance or face legal proceedings. The Council also asked for disclosure of documents relevant to the proceedings, including records of waste brought in or removed from the landfill.

The Council has given RML until 14th May 2024 to respond to its letter of claim. This aligns with the current deadline set by NRW under its enforcement notice.

Pembrokeshire County Council Chief Executive Will Bramble welcomed the move. He said: “We are extremely disappointed that RML has not delivered the necessary action to stop the completely unacceptable smells from the site.

“We fully support the additional enforcement action being taken by NRW and continue to work closely with them to do all in our power to correct the situation.

“Our intention to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to stop the odour nuisance arising from the landfill, is another part of our collaborative approach. The smell from Withyhedge is having a major impact on residents and visitors. This situation has gone on too long and it is unacceptable.”

News

Beautiful, funny and lovely: Family pay tribute to Sian Batchelor

Published

5 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE family of a woman has paid tribute to a “beautiful, funny, lovely person.”

Sian Batchelor, aged 32, was found on a beach near Pennar, Pembroke Dock on Tuesday evening, April 30^th, 2024.

Her family has issued a statement to say: ‘We are devastated by our loss. Sian was a beautiful, funny, loving person. We will treasure the good times we had with her.

“We would now like time to grieve and would ask to be given privacy in which to do so.”

The circumstances surrounding Sian’s death are being investigated and police would like to hear from anyone with information, sightings of Sian or contact from Sian, between Thursday April 25 to Tuesday April 30.

Police can be contacted either online at: https://bit.ly/DPPContactOnline, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 101. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired text the non-emergency number on 07811 311 908.

Quote reference: DP-20240430-284