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Crime

Domestic abuse victims explains difficulty leaving abusive partner

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A WOMAN who suffered years of emotional control and physical assaults at the hands of her partner has opened up about the difficulty of leaving an abusive relationship.

While it can be easy for those on the outside to ask ‘why don’t you just leave’, there are often fears around housing, money, or the impact leaving might have on children. And as Jess explains, someone who has been abused might still have a form of connection with their abuser, or has been manipulated into thinking they have changed.

Jess has spoken out about three years of emotional and physical abuse as part of Dyfed-Powys Police’s winter campaign, which aims to empower those living with domestic abuse, stalking or harassment to report incidents and find support.

When Jess started a relationship with her ex-partner, she admits there were early – if subtle – signs of abusive behaviour, which stemmed from his jealousy. While friends picked up on these behaviours, Jess would be told by her partner that they were ‘interfering’.

“He always convinced me that he was just emotional due to the strength of his feelings for me and that he obviously didn’t mean the nastier things he said under the influence of alcohol,” she said.

“My friends tried to tell me the relationship could have been considered abusive, but I was deeply in denial.”

Over time, the abuse Jess faced escalated. She was called derogatory names, emotionally controlled, and was repeatedly accused of being unfaithful. If she spent time away from home, her partner wanted constant contact.

“Time spent with friends would always result in abuse when I went back home, so there were times when I decided that it wasn’t worth it,” she said.

“He would constantly question me on what I was doing and my feelings towards him, he went through my phone behind my back, read my diary and would use entries from the past against me.

“For some months, despite his emotionally abusive behaviour, I always believed he would never physically hurt me.”

The emotional abuse did lead to physical assaults, however, and Jess was subject to attacks and threats. Following one incident she took the brave step in calling Dyfed-Powys Police after fleeing with her phone.

“For once I had physical evidence in the form of a cut, so I thought I would be taken more seriously, rather than it being just his word against mine,” she said. “Until then I had always felt as though anything within my relationship was my own mess to sort out.”

Jess learned that she had been the victim of domestic abuse in the form of controlling and coercive behaviour for two years.

“I was surprised when the police said I’d described one of the more serious situations of domestic abuse they’d ever encountered, based on just how much I’d come to accept as normal,” she said.

“Up to this point I had felt embarrassed for involving the police and assumed they’d dismiss it because I didn’t have serious physical injuries.”

Jess’s abuser was arrested and charged with assault.

Despite this, she was manipulated into restarting their relationship a few short months later, with promises that he had changed. However, she suffered another year of abuse before calling it off once more.

While they are now separated, and Jess knows he poses a danger to her, she fears she might never be free from him.

“I feel massively emotionally affected and traumatised by our time together,” she said.

“He’s still contacting me on a daily basis trying to win me back. I’d rather have no contact with him at all, but he keeps talking me round to it. I respond to this because part of me has been conditioned to please him to avoid the abuse.

“Sometimes I fear I will never truly escape him – and that my remaining friends will abandon me to this fate.”

While Jess appreciates how difficult it is to speak out, she hopes that reading her story might be the push someone needs to seek help.

“I always liked to think of myself as a strong, intelligent, independent woman and never imagined I would find myself in this sort of situation, but it really can happen to anyone,” she said.

“It’s not your fault. The only person who should feel shame in an abusive relationship is the abuser.”

If any of Jess’s story resonates with you, or you need to report domestic abuse, stalking or harassment, you can contact Dyfed-Powys Police in the following ways:

Report online: https://bit.ly/DPPContactOnline
Email: 101@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk

Call: 101

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired text the non-emergency number on 07811 311 908
In an emergency, always call 999.

If you feel you need support in contacting police, there are organisations that can help you. Click here to find them, or search online for Live Fear Free, Women’s Aid or the National Stalking Helpline – all of which have free helplines available.

Crime

Man avoids jail despite possessing child abuse images

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A PEMBROKE DOCK man has been spared immediate custody after police found almost 70 indecent images of children on his mobile phone — including one image of a child aged around three whose hands and ankles were bound.

Andrew Davies, aged 36, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday (Apr 1), having earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children.

The court heard that officers from Dyfed-Powys Police executed a search warrant at Davies’ home on Brewery Street in November 2022. Davies was present at the property and handed over a mobile phone along with the PIN code to unlock it.

Upon examination of the device, officers discovered 67 illegal images. These included nine category A images — the most serious classification — 14 category B images, and 44 category C images. The images had been downloaded and stored in a password-protected application.

Prosecuting, Sian Cutter said one of the images showed a child estimated to be three years old with their limbs restrained. She told the court that all of the material was accessible on the device and had been intentionally downloaded.

In mitigation, defence barrister Ryan Bowen said Davies was “under no illusion as to the seriousness of his offending”. He said the offences dated back to 2019, and that the matter had been hanging over Davies for several years.

Mr Bowen added: “He has no previous convictions and is of otherwise good character. He accepts responsibility for his actions and has shown insight and a willingness to address his behaviour. There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”

Sentencing, Her Honour Judge Catherine Richards told Davies: “The possession and viewing of child sexual abuse images causes direct harm to real children. It is a very serious aggravating factor that some of the images involve children as young as three.”

Davies was handed three prison terms of eight, four and two months, to run concurrently, making a total of eight months. The sentence was suspended for two years.

He must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and attend 25 rehabilitation activity days. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.

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Crime

Leaked messages point to leadership crisis at HMP Parc

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Staff mocked suicide and bragged about assaults as G4S failed to intervene

A CULTURE of violence, cruelty and neglect flourished unchecked at HMP Parc — which houses many prisoners from Pembrokeshire — while prison leadership appeared to look the other way, a cache of leaked messages obtained by The Herald suggests.

The explosive text and social media messages — exchanged between serving and former officers at the privately-run Bridgend jail — reveal not only a disturbing level of misconduct among some frontline staff, but a prison seemingly adrift, without effective oversight or internal accountability.

Officers joked about suicide attempts, bragged about violent assaults, and casually described provoking vulnerable inmates into confrontation — all in the open, with no reference to line managers, disciplinary consequences, or intervention from senior staff.

In one message, an officer writes: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.” Another adds: “They smashed him into the shower lol,” with a colleague replying: “Good! I hope they hurt him too.”

In a separate conversation, a prisoner who had slit his wrists is described as “daft” and someone who should be sent “to a f lonnie bin.” One officer joked: “He’ll tie a bag around his neck,” followed by: “Too much paperwork,” and “Don’t have to do paperwork if you pretend not to see it.”

Parc Prison, Bridgend (Pic: Herald)

No fear of consequences

The messages, some of which were shared on social media last summer, contain no suggestion that those involved feared being caught or disciplined. In fact, the tone throughout is brazen, boastful and often gleeful — pointing to what campaigners now describe as a complete failure of leadership inside the prison.

“There’s no mention of superiors, no sense that anyone was trying to stop this,” one prison reform advocate told The Herald. “That tells you everything you need to know about the culture at the top.”

The Herald was the first to report on the leaked messages, which have since been seen by national media including the BBC, PA and The Independent. Their contents have now become part of an ongoing criminal investigation by South Wales Police.

Ten officers arrested — but no managers held accountable

Since September 2024, ten officers at HMP Parc have been arrested on suspicion of assault and misconduct in public office.

Four arrests were made on 20 September 2024, but all four individuals were later released without charge. In January 2025, six more officers were detained, with five bailed until the end of April and one released under investigation.

South Wales Police told The Herald: “The investigation remains ongoing, and officers are continuing to work closely with G4S.”

Despite the scale of the investigation, no senior managers or governors at the prison have been suspended, dismissed, or formally investigated. G4S has confirmed that three of the officers arrested in the first phase have been dismissed, and a fourth remains suspended pending disciplinary action.

Campaigners say that is not enough.

“If this level of abuse was happening openly among officers, leadership either knew and did nothing, or they were completely unaware of the day-to-day culture inside their own prison,” one former prison inspector said. “Either way, it’s a failure.”

Seventeen deaths in one year

The crisis at Parc has unfolded against a grim backdrop: seventeen inmates died in the prison during 2024, making it the deadliest prison in the UK that year.

In a letter to the House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee in October, Prisons Minister James Timpson confirmed that the Ministry of Justice’s anti-corruption unit is actively investigating the facility.

In December, MPs were told that organised criminal gangs were smuggling drugs and weapons into Parc via children’s nappies and industrial drones. A riot in 2023 led to the replacement of the prison’s director by mutual agreement, with new leadership installed — but problems appear to have persisted.

“Catastrophic safeguarding failure”

In March 2025, The Herald reported on a separate police investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a vulnerable young inmate on X1 Wing. The victim, aged 18–19, was reportedly scalded with boiling water and forced to perform a sexual act at knifepoint by a known high-risk offender.

Campaigners questioned how the attacker — flagged in his OASys risk assessment as dangerous and premeditated — was allowed to share a cell with a vulnerable young prisoner.

Zack Griffiths, of the HMP Prisons Justice Group, said: “A vulnerable young person was left exposed to a violent, dangerous offender, and the consequences have been devastating. This isn’t just an individual crime — it’s a catastrophic failure of the prison system to safeguard those in its care.”

G4S response and silence from above

In a statement, a spokesperson for G4S said: “We are absolutely committed to rooting out any wrongdoing. Of the four individuals who were arrested and released without charge by South Wales Police, three have been dismissed from the company and one remains suspended pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.
Our staff are expected to treat everyone with dignity and respect and we have a zero-tolerance approach to dealing with any staff behaviour that falls short of our standards. The vast majority of our staff are hardworking and honest.”

The Prison Reform Trust declined to provide an on-the-record statement, but confirmed they have been hearing concerns from prisoners at HMP Parc and offered to speak off the record about broader issues within the prison system.

Calls grow for independent inquiry

With police investigations continuing, no charges brought, and no senior leadership held publicly accountable, calls are growing for a fully independent public inquiry into how HMP Parc has been run — and how such a corrosive environment was allowed to take hold.

“This isn’t just about a few bad officers,” one whistleblower said. “This is a broken culture, and it starts at the top.”

Parc, the largest prison in Wales, remains one of the few in the UK run by a private contractor. For families of those who died behind its walls, and for the growing number of victims still inside, answers cannot come soon enough.

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Crime

Driver found slumped at wheel was three times over drink-drive limit

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A MOTORIST found slumped over his steering wheel with the engine still running has admitted being three times over the legal drink-drive limit.

Robert McMillan, 44, was spotted by another driver at around 1:00pm on September 19 while parked near St Florence. Concerned for his welfare, the member of the public called police.

“A member of the public contacted the police as they were concerned that he’d either been drinking, taking drugs, or had a medical issue,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week.

“The engine was running and when the member of the public asked him if he was ok, the defendant gave him a thumbs-up.”

Following his arrest, a blood sample revealed McMillan had 272 micrograms of alcohol in his system—the legal limit is 80.

This week McMillan pleaded guilty to drink-driving. In mitigation, he claimed he had consumed a pint of alcohol at a pub in Penally and, after suspecting he had a flat tyre, pulled into a layby and drank three-quarters of a bottle of wine he had in the car.

“This led to his high reading as normally he doesn’t drink alcohol like this,” said probation officer Julie Norman.

However, the Crown disputed this version of events. CCTV footage played in court captured the member of the public telling officers that McMillan had fallen out of his vehicle.

McMillan was represented by solicitor Alaw Harries, who said the offence would have serious repercussions.

“For the past 17 years, Mr McMillan has worked for a mental health charity based in Cardiff, but his role involves a significant amount of driving,” she said. “His employers are now going to have to reconsider his position. This is going to have a huge impact on both himself and others. He’s disappointed in himself and is extremely sorry.”

Magistrates disqualified McMillan from driving for 28 months and imposed a 12-month community order, requiring him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay a £114 court surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.

Due to the level of alcohol in his system, McMillan is now classed as a high-risk offender and must prove he is medically fit to drive before reapplying for his licence.

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