News

Sheep farmer ‘simply couldn’t cope’

Published

12 years ago

March 14, 2014

A NARBERTH man has been ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of 25 charges of animal neglect. Lyn Williams, aged 32, previously of Hill Farm, Ludchurch, pleaded guilty to 25 charges of animal neglect towards his sheep.

A video containing footage of dead and neglected sheep was shown in the court.

Prosecutor, Simon Morgan said: “Some sheep were showing loss of wool and were lame. On January 29 a visit was conducted by Mrs Lucy Thomas from the Animal Welfare, who found several dead sheep around the barns. Some were decomposing and others were still warm.”

Mrs Thomas stated that the lamb’s condition scores were marked at 0.5, with 0 being razor thin and 5 being well fed and nutritioned. The animals had not received any care or treatment, and even though food and water had been placed, they were able to get to the food and water because they were too weak to stand. Sheep were being forced to walk on their knees due to untrimmed and overgrown hooves, some of which had split, therefore causing extreme pain.

“Some sheep had glazed and sunken eyes, others with unusual head posture called ‘Stargazing’. Sheep that had been shot were laid out side by side, and no effort was made to treat the sheep before being destroyed”. Mr Morgan said: “Pregnant ewes had been aborting due to the distress and others had had their eyes pecked out by birds. Skeletons of sheep were found near the stream on the edge of the farm who had tried to reach water, though were too weak to return. Williams did not pick up dead animals that were clearly visible. “One dead lamb had become entangled in bale wrap and another that was still alive was entwined in the wrap, which was around its neck and foreleg. It was only found from its feeble cries.

“The farm seriously over stocked on sheep and failed to provide nutrition for pregnant lambs. Many sheep were traumatised from being pecked by birds resulting in eye loss. Williams claims that a wild animal could have caused some of the deaths, but does not stand by that completely as no deaths were caused by attacks”. Defence solicitor, Mark Layton said: “Williams is a man of clean character and has been a father all of his adult life. The basis of plea is that it falls between short and medium in terms of neglect, which could be dealt with by a high level community order.

“I have to accept that there are a number of aggravating features, but consider the question of why things went wrong. There are three reasons for this: up until February, Williams was in partnership with his father who passed away. Williams was then left on his own, and he also had issues with his neighbours.

“He had applied to have wind turbines on his land, which his neighbours opposed. We also had a very harsh winter between December 2012 and March 2013. It was severely cold, and with 2000 sheep on a farm, it’s not unusual for sheep to die.

“In terms of the removal of the sheep, Williams used an external firm, therefore the pellets that had gone through the heads were not his fault and he did not have control over that. A letter from Tom Goddard and Sons shows regular visits were made to the farm, and although getting contractors to come out can sometimes be difficult, he was getting them there. “Invoices of food stocks and welfare material that exceeded £10,000 and vets bills had all been paid. Williams is not a man who was just ignoring his obligations, he just simply couldn’t cope. “He has lost his name and reputation and will have to live and come to terms with this. But please remember that during a 12 week period, things got bad and then better. The worst part was smack bang in the middle of the 12 weeks”.

Magistrates told the court: “We have listened carefully to what has been said and accept that managing livestock in winter is hard, and the percentage of dead stock was low. You were given a chance to tidy up, which you ignored. We are aware of the loss of your father and are going to sentence on the basis of plea.”

Magistrates ordered Williams to complete 240 hours of unpaid work within 12 months, and he was disqualified from keeping sheep for two years. He was also subject to fines and court costs, totalling at £7,774.

After the hearing, Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Councillor Huw George, said: “Mr Williams failed to act on advice offered to him from the Animal Health and Welfare Inspectors. The farm was found to be seriously overstocked during the winter of 2012.

“He failed to take prompt action to control a lameness and parasite problem within the flock resulting in dire consequences for the entire flock during a prolonged wet and cold winter.”

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

11 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.