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Crime

Custodial sentence for Neyland fisherman

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PASSING a sea survival course has resulted in a custodial sentence for a Pembrokeshire fisherman after he admitted using threatening behaviour towards staff at the Silverdale homeless lodge.

Brandon Pugh was told earlier this month that he had successfully passed the sea survival course after serving an apprenticeship on a fishing boat operating from Neyland Marina.

But after drinking to excess to celebrate his success, Pugh returned to the Silverdale Lodg in Johnston, where he had been residing for the previous 24 hours.

“He was absolutely thrilled that he could finally see a future opening up before him,” his solicitor, Tom Lloyd, told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

“So what did he do? He got intoxicated to the point where he couldn’t remember anything.”

Pugh reached Silverdale just before 1.30am on April 24, and confronted a female staff worker who believed he had taken a dislike to her during their meeting the previous day.

“She was typing up notes when she heard a knock on the door,” said Crown Prosecutor Abigail Jackson.

“She heard a male voice and recognised it as Brandon Pugh. She asked him to hold on while she waited for her colleague to come back as she didn’t feel comfortable engaging with the defendant on her own. She had met him only once, and didn’t think he liked her.”

But Pugh then began kicking the door whilst shouting, “I’m going to end you.”

“I took his threats literally, as his manner and demeanour made me feel uncomfortable,” said the Silverdale Lodge victim in a statement she made to the police.

“I felt that if he was going to open the door, he would harm me.”

The court was told by probation officer Julie Norman that the offence was committed whilst Pugh was the subject of a two-year suspended prison sentence for a common assault conviction in January 2023.

“There’s a pattern of violent offences here, with the result that I request he be sent to custody,” she said.

But solicitor Tom Lloyd urged magistrates to apply leniency in their sentence.

“His background is extremely troubled and he is an extremely vulnerable individual,” he said. “Since a very young age he’s been pushed into doing things that he didn’t want to do, and this has been the story of his life.

“At last he’s been given the chance to work on a fishing boat, things have gone very well, and this is the main reason he’s kept out of trouble.

“But that night he got very intoxicated and said things that he didn’t mean. He’s embarrassed by what happened.”

However after considering the mitigation, magistrates sentenced Pugh to 24 weeks in custody. He was also ordered to pay £239.

“Despite how it looks today, there is light at the end of the tunnel,” said presiding magistrate Mary Smith. “When you come out of custody you’ll be able to pick up the pieces and get on with your fishing career.”

 

Crime

Boy, 13, arrested after child seriously injured in rugby club fire

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11-year-old rescued from burning container at Trimsaran RFC

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and arson after a fire at a Carmarthenshire rugby club left an 11-year-old boy seriously injured.

The blaze happened at Trimsaran RFC on Saturday afternoon, when a storage container used to keep equipment at the club’s ground was allegedly set alight deliberately.

Dyfed-Powys Police said the younger boy became trapped inside the burning container and had to be rescued by club members.

He was taken to Morriston Hospital with serious injuries, where he remains in a stable condition.

Police have confirmed that a 13-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and arson.

The investigation is ongoing.

 

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Crime

Suspended prison sentence for man who left dogs without vet care

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CEREDIGION man Rhys Ebenezer has been handed a suspended prison sentence after leaving three dogs without veterinary treatment, including one animal found to have been in chronic pain for at least two weeks.

Ebenezer, 27, of Llangeitho, Tregaron, appeared at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (May 21), where he was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also banned from keeping all animals for 10 years and ordered to pay £6,410.92 in costs, along with a £154 victim surcharge.

Ebenezer had previously admitted four offences under the Animal Welfare Act relating to causing unnecessary suffering and failing to meet the needs of three dogs.

The court also imposed a six-month curfew order, 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and a 12-month restriction on travelling abroad.

RSPCA officers were called to a property in Llangeitho on September 29, 2025, following reports that injured dogs were being kept in kennels.

When Animal Rescue Officers Holly Brown and Darryl Thomas arrived, they became concerned about two Patterdale terriers, four-year-old Charlie and two-year-old Twig.

In her witness statement, ARO Brown said: “Twig was curled up in her bed and appeared very lethargic and subdued. I observed a large blue bandage on her front right leg.”

She said she was told Twig had been involved in a fight with another dog, Champ, who was at the vets with Ebenezer, and that the animals had injured each other fighting through the bars of the kennels.

ARO Brown said Charlie appeared “bright, alert and active” but was underweight, with his ribs easily visible and his waist “very sucked in”.

She added: “I observed that Charlie was covered all over his body in scars and healing wounds in different stages of healing. Some appeared much more recent and others appeared healed.”

A vet who assessed Charlie estimated some of the wounds on his legs were around two weeks old, while others were around a week old. The vet said the injuries were “inconsistent” with Ebenezer’s explanation that the scarring had been caused by ratting.

Ebenezer told officers that Champ had been put to sleep and buried at his property.

ARO Thomas said Ebenezer took officers to a “remote field on the top of a mountain”, where an excavator was used to dig up Champ’s body.

In his witness statement, ARO Thomas said: “Using torches, the officers examined the deceased dog and I could see that this dog had what I would describe as a de-gloving injury to both sides of its lower jaw, and a chunk of its nose was missing.”

A vet who examined Champ’s body found injuries to his chin, nostril and ear. The severe chin injury was assessed as having happened at least two weeks before the dog was euthanised and would have caused “chronic pain and discomfort”.

The vet added: “It is my expert opinion that clearly all three dogs — Twig, Charlie and Champ — were caused to suffer as a consequence of the injuries that they had sustained.”

In mitigation, the court heard that Ebenezer had worked with animals and was highly thought of by his employer. He was also given credit for his early guilty pleas.

 

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Crime

Man accused of police station bomb hoax remanded in custody

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A MAN has been remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of making a bomb hoax threat involving Llanelli Police Station.

Anthony Mold appeared before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (May 28) charged with communicating false information with intent to induce a false belief that a bomb was present.

The court heard the allegation relates to an incident in Llanelli on Tuesday (May 26), during which Mold allegedly contacted the Dyfed-Powys Police Force Control Room claiming a bomb was on his person and that he intended to detonate it at Dafen Police Station.

Mold is also charged with assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty, criminal damage to a police vehicle, and breaching a Community Protection Notice by allegedly drinking alcohol in a public place in breach of restrictions imposed upon him.

The assault allegation relates to PC 1378 Moore, who police say was assaulted in Llanelli on May 26. A separate charge alleges damage was caused to a Dyfed-Powys Police vehicle.

The court remanded Mold in custody. Magistrates were told concerns included the likelihood of further offending and the seriousness of the allegations.

The case was adjourned to Llanelli Magistrates’ Court for a further hearing on Thursday, June 18, ahead of sentencing proceedings listed for Monday, June 29.

 

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