Defendant remanded in custody as court hears allegations spanning Wales and South West England

A MAN accused of carrying out a series of high-value thefts from Currys stores across Wales and South West England has appeared before magistrates in connection with an alleged offence in Haverfordwest.

Ilia Patchkoria, aged 27, of no fixed abode, appeared before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court facing multiple theft allegations involving electrical goods worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Among the charges is an allegation that Patchkoria stole items worth £1,525 from the Currys store in Haverfordwest on May 23 this year.

The court heard that the Haverfordwest incident forms part of a wider series of alleged offences said to have taken place at Currys stores across Wales and England.

Other charges relate to alleged thefts at stores in Carmarthen, Barnstaple, Plymouth, Truro, Penzance and Torquay. The total value of the goods involved in the various allegations runs into many thousands of pounds.

According to the court register, the largest single alleged theft took place at the Carmarthen branch, where goods valued at more than £7,600 are said to have been taken.

Patchkoria indicated guilty pleas to some matters before the court. Magistrates ordered that he be remanded in custody while proceedings continue.

The case has been adjourned until July 2, when it is due to return before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court.

It is not yet known precisely what items were allegedly taken from the Haverfordwest store, although Currys outlets typically stock a range of high-value electrical goods including laptops, mobile phones, gaming consoles and household technology.

No verdicts have been reached in relation to the outstanding allegations.

The Herald has approached Currys for comment on the alleged Haverfordwest theft and to establish whether the incident caused any disruption to customers or store operations.

Photo caption: Currys in Haverfordwest was among several stores allegedly targeted in a cross-country theft spree (Pic: Herald).

Ten more defendants dealt with after disorder following deaths of two teenagers

EMOTIONAL scenes broke out at Cardiff Crown Court as another ten defendants were sentenced over the Ely riot which followed the deaths of teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans.

The boys, aged 16 and 15, died in May 2023 when an e-bike crashed in the Ely area of Cardiff. Their deaths led to a night of serious disorder, with police attacked, vehicles set alight and missiles thrown in the street.

On Thursday (June 18), Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke had to warn the public gallery after gasps, tears and shouted comments during the hearing.

Seven men were jailed for their roles in the violence.

Zayne Farrugia, 26, from Caerau, received the longest sentence of the day at six years. The court heard he joined the front line of the confrontation and threw a number of missiles at police.

Jordan Webster, 30, from Ely, was jailed for five years and seven months. He threw stones and helped move debris into the road as officers tried to bring the disorder under control.

Jamie Bateman, 27, from Caerau, was sentenced to five years and nine months after the court heard he threw missiles and encouraged others to use broken paving slabs during the riot.

Liam Williams, 21, from Rumney, was jailed for four years and three months after bringing fuel and aerosol cans to the scene, which were later used by others to feed a fire.

Jamie Jones, 25, from Llanrumney, was sentenced to five years and two months, while Jayden Westcott, 21, from Ely, received the same term. James Chappell, 31, from Barry, was jailed for four years and four months.

Three women, who were all teenagers at the time of the riot, avoided immediate prison sentences.

Lianna Tucker, 20, from Ely, Jasmine Smith, 21, from Heath, and Jumana Fouad, 19, from Ely, were each handed 24-month community orders with rehabilitation requirements.

The court was told that rumours about the crash had spread quickly on the night, fuelling anger in the crowd. What began as a gathering of upset residents developed into hours of violence, with officers pelted with objects including bricks, bottles, tiles and other debris.

Ten defendants were sentenced on Wednesday, and the hearings are continuing, with 30 people due to be sentenced in total.

Lola James killer Kyle Bevan stabbed more than 25 times in high-security jail as notorious inmates found guilty of murder

HAVERFORDWEST child killer Kyle Bevan has been murdered by three of Britain’s most dangerous prisoners in a brutal prison attack that has once again thrust the tragic death of two-year-old Lola James into the national spotlight.

Bevan, 33, was serving a life sentence for murdering Lola at her home in Princess Royal Way, Haverfordwest, when he was ambushed inside his cell at HMP Wakefield.

On Thursday (Jun 18), a jury at Leeds Crown Court found Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 57, and David Taylor, 63, guilty of murder following a trial that heard how Bevan was stabbed and slashed more than 25 times during a frenzied attack lasting less than five minutes.

The court heard that Bevan suffered catastrophic injuries, including a punctured heart, a severed jugular vein and a slashed aorta. One blow was so powerful that the weapon cut through bone.

After killing him, the three men arranged his body to make it appear that he was asleep in bed. Prison officers did not discover his body until the following morning.

The jury took around two hours to convict all three men.

Remembering Lola

For many people in Pembrokeshire, news of Bevan’s death has reopened memories of one of the county’s most shocking and heartbreaking crimes.

Lola James was just two years old when she died following a sustained and savage assault in July 2020.

During Bevan’s trial, jurors heard that the toddler suffered 101 separate injuries.

Medical experts compared one of the catastrophic head injuries she received to the sort of trauma normally seen in a high-speed road traffic collision involving a child.

The court heard that Bevan repeatedly assaulted the youngster while caring for her at the family home.

Afterwards, he attempted to blame the family dog, claiming Lola had been pushed down a staircase.

A jury rejected his account.

In 2023, Bevan was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 28 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Lola’s mother, Sinead James, was jailed for six years after being convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

A county left devastated

The Herald’s coverage of Lola’s death generated one of the largest public responses ever seen to a criminal case in Pembrokeshire.

Thousands followed developments through the investigation, trial and sentencing.

At the time, readers expressed profound sadness for Lola and anger that opportunities to protect her had been missed.

Many local residents described the case as one that had shaken the county to its core.

While reaction to Bevan’s death has been mixed, many people have pointed out that the real victim remains Lola herself.

Social media discussions following news of the prison murder have largely focused on remembering the little girl whose life was cut short rather than the man convicted of killing her.

Others have questioned whether Bevan’s death serves any purpose, arguing that it cannot undo the suffering inflicted upon Lola or bring comfort to those who loved her.

Questions over safeguarding failures

Lola’s death led to extensive scrutiny of agencies responsible for protecting vulnerable children.

A subsequent Child Practice Review identified a number of missed opportunities and systemic failings.

The review highlighted concerns over information sharing, risk assessment and the pressures facing frontline services.

The findings prompted calls for improvements across agencies involved in child protection.

For many readers, those concerns remain just as relevant today as they were when the report was first published.

The men who killed Bevan

The three men convicted of Bevan’s murder were already among the most feared prisoners in the country.

Mark Fellows, known as “The Iceman” and “Wakefield Dexter”, was serving a whole-life sentence for two gangland assassinations in the north west of England.

Lee Newell had previously murdered another child killer inside prison.

David Taylor, a convicted armed robber and violent career criminal, was awaiting trial for another murder when he took part in the attack.

The trial heard that Bevan was viewed as a target because of the nature of his crimes.

Like many prisoners convicted of offences against children, he was classed as a vulnerable prisoner and spent much of his time isolated from the wider prison population.

Wakefield under scrutiny again

The killing has renewed questions about conditions inside HMP Wakefield, one of Britain’s most secure prisons.

Known unofficially as “Monster Mansion”, the Category A prison houses some of the country’s most dangerous offenders.

Bevan’s murder came only weeks after another notorious inmate, former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, was killed in the same prison.

The court heard evidence of tensions between vulnerable prisoners and mainstream inmates, creating what prosecutors described as a distorted hierarchy among offenders.

During the trial, the judge warned jurors not to allow their feelings about Bevan’s crimes to influence their verdicts.

Mrs Justice McGowan said: “Nobody has a right to kill anyone else because they disapprove of what they have done, or because they hate them.

“It is a fairly basic premise in a civilised society.”

Those words may prove uncomfortable for some, given the nature of Bevan’s crimes.

But they underline a principle at the heart of the justice system: that punishment is imposed by the courts, not by fellow prisoners.

For Pembrokeshire, however, the lasting focus remains not on the violent death of Kyle Bevan, but on the loss of a little girl whose murder shocked a community and whose memory continues to resonate across the county.