News

Postal strike led to Pembrokeshire £300,000+ rents loss fiasco

Published

10 months ago

February 1, 2024

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A POSTAL strike was responsible for a rents fiasco where Pembrokeshire County Council lost more than £300,000 in lost revenue rather than its contracted distributor, members of a special council committee heard.

That revenue was lost last year after council tenants’ annual rent rise was not correctly publicised by mail in the appropriate time.

Tenants have a statutory two-month period of notice before rent rises, which were due to take place from April 1, can come into effect.

However, statutory rent increase notices were only delivered to tenants in late March, delaying the time of rent increases to July 1, costing more than £300,000 in lost revenue.

Concerns had been raised that the council contracted company – Dsi Billing – which provides the printing and distribution of specialist documentation such as council tax billing, rents and debts may have had a responsibility for the late delivery, which have since been refuted.

Earlier this month, Cabinet member for Corporate Finance Cllr Alec Cormack backed a recommendation to award a new £370,000 two-year contract to Dsi Billing, which is used by other local authorities including Carmarthenshire.

A report recommending approval said: “The council had an issue with the non-delivery of rent letters earlier this year and, while an investigation found that Dsi Billing could not be held liable as the Royal Mail deliver the ‘final mile,’ processes have since been improved to lessen the risk of such an event happening again.”

Following the award of the contract, all 10 Tory county councillors submitted a ‘call-in’ on that decision, which was considered at a February extraordinary meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee.

Options before the committee were to either uphold it, refer it back to the Cabinet member for reconsideration, or refer it to full council.

As well as raising the issue of the lost revenue, the ‘call-in’ included: “The Welsh Conservative group believe that this decision deserves full and proper scrutiny at committee level – given its sizeable cost estimation at around £370,000.

“It is of the upmost importance that in these times of unprecedented financial challenges, with a £27.1 million funding gap to be found, and expectations that the administration will ask for a council tax increase between 15-25 per cent in the forthcoming months, that we ratify every pound spent of their money.”

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Cormack said he had publicly signed the contract, recommended for approval by officers, to avoid any perceptions “of anything underhand”.

“As far as the officers are concerned, and I fully support the position they came to, Dsi had no liability in the issue that happened last year, Dsi and the council all thought these letters had been delivered.”

He later added: “The company didn’t fail, that is what officers’ investigations told us; they did everything they needed to get it to the Royal Mail, it was during a Royal Mail strike that it didn’t happen.

“If we felt they were liable we wouldn’t have awarded them this contract, I’m sure.”

The council’s Interim Director of Resources Paul Ashley-Jones said: “Whoever we use, the final delivery will continue to be in the hands of Royal Mail, it is my belief the Royal Mail failed us last year.”

A call by Conservative councillor Aled Thomas for the matter to be referred to full council, with sight of the actual contract, saw five votes in favour and five against.

Committee chair Cllr Mike John – who had earlier said he was not in favour of it going to full council – cast a second casting vote against, stressing he was in favour of the decision being scrutinised but not the call for it to be herd again at full council.

News

Welsh teenager jailed for creating 3D-printed gun at home

Published

30 mins ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A TEENAGER who assembled parts for a viable semi-automatic firearm using a 3D printer has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

Owain Roberts, 19, purchased nuts, bolts, steel barrels, and metal rods online, constructing components of an FGC-9 gun with the aid of a 3D printer.

Detectives said that this case marks the first of its kind in Gwent, where Roberts admitted to manufacturing a firearm component. He appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday (Nov 14).

In April, firearms officers executed warrants at two Newport addresses connected to Roberts. Seized items included a 3D printer, two laptops, six plastic reels, and parts for an FGC-9 firearm.

PC Tom Meazey, from Gwent Police’s East Serious Organised Crime team, stated: “Illegally-held firearms can lead to tragic consequences and devastate innocent people’s lives. To own a firearm, including a printable one, is illegal in the UK without a valid firearms certificate. Roberts’s reckless actions in buying items capable of manufacturing a firearm placed people at direct risk.”

This rare and complex investigation involved support from the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Roberts received a prison sentence of four years and nine months.

News

Milford Haven man caught with indecent images of children spared jail

Published

49 mins ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A MILFORD HAVEN man, Gareth MacDonald, 23, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to downloading over 1,000 indecent images of children.

MacDonald, of Meyler Crescent, was arrested in March 2023 following a police search of his home. Acting on intelligence, officers seized multiple electronic devices, and MacDonald admitted to downloading the illegal images.

Swansea Crown Court heard that MacDonald accessed material spanning all severity categories, including images depicting the rape of pre-teen children.

He reportedly told police he had “become bored with legal pornography” roughly a year prior to his arrest.

Judge Geraint Walters sentenced MacDonald to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. As part of the sentence, MacDonald must:

Complete 20 rehabilitation activity days
Participate in the Horizon programme
Register as a sex offender for 10 years
Comply with a 10-year sexual harm prevention order

Judge Walters remarked that MacDonald had been accessing illegal content “for some considerable period of time” despite knowing it was wrong.

However, MacDonald, who has health problems, dodged being sent to jail and was able to leave the court a free man.

Crime

Ceredigion man sentenced for selling £150,000 in illegal DVDs

Published

56 mins ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A CEREDIGION man has been sentenced for selling counterfeit DVDs worth £150,000 under major brand names without authorization.

David Robert Thomas, 47, from Sarnau, ran a sophisticated online operation, producing and selling fake DVDs labeled with brands like Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Sony, and Universal City Studios LLC. Thomas used seven different websites and managed multiple bank and PayPal accounts, including those of family members, to carry out his business.

Councillor Matthew Vaux, Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said: “Counterfeiting is often thought of as a victimless crime, but it harms the local economy by undermining legitimate businesses that pay taxes and create real jobs. This result sends a clear message that counterfeit sales will not be tolerated, and we will act against offenders.”

Thomas pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court on Monday (Nov 11) and was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. His sentence includes a four-month curfew and fifteen Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

Under the Crime Act 2002, forfeiture proceedings will follow to reclaim the financial benefits from Thomas’s criminal activities. Judge Richards took into account the market value of equivalent genuine goods, the sophisticated setup of Thomas’s business, and his previously clean record in reaching the sentencing decision.

The case was brought forward successfully by Ceredigion County Council’s Trading Standards Service.