A MILFORD HAVEN man accused of threatening to blow up a council-owned property and to kill a police officer has pleaded not guilty to all charges at Swansea Crown Court.

Robert Adams, aged 46, of St Peters Road, Milford Haven, appeared before the Crown Court on Tuesday (Dec 16), where he formally denied two serious offences arising from a major armed police incident in the town last month.

The court heard that the charges relate to an incident on Monday (Nov 3), when armed police, fire crews and National Grid engineers were deployed to St Peters Road following reports of threats and concerns over gas and electricity supplies. Power and gas were temporarily shut off to nearby homes as a precaution while police negotiators dealt with the situation.

Adams is accused of making a threat to destroy property belonging to Pembrokeshire County Council, contrary to Sections 2(a) and 4 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. It is alleged he threatened to blow up the property during the incident.

He is also charged under Section 16 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 with threatening to kill Dyfed-Powys Police officer PC 195 Aled Tayler, intending that the officer would fear the threat would be carried out.

At an earlier hearing before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court, Adams was remanded in custody after bail was refused due to the seriousness of the allegations and concerns about interference with witnesses.

At Swansea Crown Court, Adams entered not guilty pleas to both charges. The court was told that the case will now proceed to a full trial.

A provisional trial date has been set for April 2026, with further case management hearings to take place in the meantime.

Adams remains in custody.

New tools and funding aim to unlock stalled developments while protecting sensitive waterways

DEVELOPMENT across parts of Pembrokeshire that has been effectively frozen by marine nutrient pollution rules could begin to move again, following an update from the Welsh Government on the work of its Marine Nitrates Development Taskforce.

In a written statement published on Wednesday (Dec 17), Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, said progress was being made on a package of national measures designed to allow housing and other development to resume “in a sustainable way as quickly as possible”.

The taskforce was established in October to address the widespread planning block affecting areas where protected rivers and marine environments are already failing nutrient targets. In west Wales, this has had a significant impact on Pembrokeshire, where phosphate and nitrate pressures linked to wastewater and agriculture have stalled new housing schemes and complicated local planning decisions.

Multi-agency approach

The taskforce brings together senior officials from the Welsh Government, local authorities, Natural Resources Wales and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Ms Bryant said meetings had been “constructive and collaborative”, with a shared urgency to find workable solutions.

Among the key components now being progressed are a national Nutrient Calculator and expert-led guidance to help quantify the impact of new developments, alongside a local authority-led handbook for developers, which is reported to be at an advanced stage.

A national Nutrient Credit Trading Group has also been established, allowing developers to offset nutrient impacts through accredited mitigation schemes. The Welsh Government says this framework will help planning officers and applicants identify their nutrient contribution and put effective mitigation in place.

Funding for west Wales

For Pembrokeshire, the funding element of the announcement is particularly significant. The Welsh Government has confirmed more than £500,000 has been allocated to the West Wales Nutrient Management Board to support implementation on the ground, alongside up to £1.5m over three years to assist local authorities in affected areas.

Pembrokeshire County Council has repeatedly warned that nutrient neutrality requirements have delayed housing delivery, including affordable homes, and placed pressure on its Local Development Plan. The new measures are intended to provide sufficient clarity for councils to process applications while remaining compliant with environmental law.

Local development plans

The taskforce has also examined how future Local Development Plans can progress under the updated regime. The Welsh Government’s Chief Planning Officer is working with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, Natural Resources Wales and heads of planning to ensure plans can move through examination without breaching nutrient rules.

Ms Bryant said taskforce members report regularly to the First Minister, cabinet colleagues and council leaders, adding that there is “optimism” developments can begin to resume as the new tools and guidance are put into practice.

While no formal timeline has been set, the statement suggests the Welsh Government is seeking to move beyond the current planning impasse, which has been a source of frustration for developers, councils and communities across Pembrokeshire and wider west Wales.

Environmental safeguards remain

The Welsh Government has stressed that the approach is not about weakening environmental protections, but about enabling growth while safeguarding vulnerable rivers, estuaries and coastal waters that are central to Pembrokeshire’s economy, tourism and biodiversity.

Further updates are expected in the new year as the guidance and mitigation mechanisms are rolled out nationally.

Judge reminds jurors there is no standard timeframe for victims to come forward as trial reaches final stage

A JURY has been told that allegations at the centre of a historic child sexual abuse trial first emerged following a psychic tarot card reading, as the case reached its final stage at Swansea Crown Court.

Thomas Kirk, aged 50, of Meyler Crescent, Milford Haven, denies orally raping and sexually assaulting a child aged between thirteen and fifteen in Pembrokeshire between 2007 and 2008.

The allegations relate to a single alleged incident said to have taken place more than fifteen years ago at a property where both the defendant and the complainant were present at the time.

Summing up the case on Wednesday (Dec 17), His Honour Paul Thomas KC reminded jurors of evidence that the complainant first disclosed the allegation in 2021 after attending a session with a psychic medium who was conducting a tarot card reading.

The jury heard that during the reading, the name “Tommy” repeatedly arose. The complainant became silent, and the medium suggested there may have been a sexually violent past involving the complainant.

Defence counsel Alan Wright told the jury this led the complainant to later say: “The more I think about it happening, the more I can remember something happening.”

The court heard that the complainant later described a single incident occurring when she was aged fourteen or fifteen, while her mother was at work. She was unable to recall the precise time and could not remember whether the defendant ejaculated.

The defence invited jurors to consider whether the circumstances in which the allegation first surfaced were relevant when assessing memory and reliability.

In his legal directions, the judge told jurors there is no standard timeframe in which a victim of sexual abuse must come forward.

Prosecuting, Robin Rouch told the court it took several years for the complainant to disclose the allegation, first telling her partner and then a close friend, before reporting it to police.

Mr Rouch said the accounts given to her partner and friend were consistent with the account later given to police, and submitted that this supported her credibility.

He told jurors: “It is plain that you have been deliberately lied to by Mr Kirk.”

Jurors were reminded of evidence from the former partner of the defendant, who told the court she had no memory of ever returning to the property in question to find the defendant drunk on the night in question and had no knowledge of him actively drinking alcohol at that time.

The court heard the defendant’s medical records from the relevant period showed he was receiving support for smoking cessation, with no indicators of alcohol misuse recorded.

The witness also told the court there had never been any sexually violent behaviour towards her from he defendant, and that she had not observed any sexually inappropriate behaviour towards the complainant.

The judge reminded jurors that Kirk has no previous history of sexual violence.

Giving evidence, Kirk accepted he may have let people down in various ways but told the court he had never sexually abused the complainant.

In concluding his summing up, the judge reminded jurors it was for them alone to decide which evidence they accepted and whether the prosecution had made them sure of the defendant’s guilt.

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict later today.

The case continues.