News

17-year-old sentenced to 15 year minimum term after brutal axe and sword murder

Published

7 years ago

September 14, 2018

A 16-YEAR-OLD schoolboy sipped tea with his stepmother at their home near St Clears and then slaughtered her with an axe and a samurai sword.

Reuben Brathwaite – who can be named for the first time today – even took photographs of the injured and then dead Mrs Scourfield and tried to upload them to the internet.

Brathwaite, now 17, admitted the murder and was today ordered by a judge to be detained at her majesty’s pleasure. He will be held in custody for a minimum of 15 years.

Brathwaite could not receive a life sentence because of his age but the sentence is effectively the same.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Brathwaite lived in a log cabin within the 14 acres of Broadmoor Farm with his father, a tree surgeon and landscape gardener, and his step mother, a keen animal lover.

Brathwaite moved into the cabin after his relationship with his step mother deteriorated.

The High Court judge, Mr Justice Picken, said he developed an interest in murder and constantly researched it on the internet, studying graphic images of executions and mass murder. He also began to feel isolated, depressed and “fed up with life,” but psychiatrists later confirmed he had not been mentally ill.

Brathwaite developed the idea that he would commit suicide but if he killed someone instead it would ‘somehow get him out of it’.

After returning home after a ‘regular, matter of fact’ day at school he put his plan into action.

Brathwaite chatted with his stepmother over a cup of tea and then indicated that there was something wrong with a cat she was looking after.

As she left the farmhouse to attend to the animal Brathwaite hit her over her head with the blunt side of an axe ‘eight or nine times’ until he could see her brain.

He took a photograph of her as she lay on the floor and tried unsuccessfully to post it on the internet.

Then he retrieved a samurai sword from under his father’s bed and cut her throat with it.

Brathwaite telephoned the police and told then what he had done and said he would put the sword into a caravan, not to hide it, he said, but to put it out of the way.

After his arrest he said he had used the axe in the hope of knocking Mrs Scourfield unconscious so she would not suffer when he cut her throat.

Mr Justice Picken said he found Brathwaite’s internet activity – and the attempt to post images of the murder as he committed it – to be ‘most disturbing’.

He told Brathwaite: “You made a clear decision to to go to find those weapons and to use them to kill your stepmother.

“This was an attack of savagery against someone who cared for you.

“This was not a spur of the moment attack. It was clearly pre-planned.”

Mr Justice Picken said if Brathwaite had been 18 the starting point would have been life with a minimum of 25 years.

But he had to have regard for his age to discount the sentence in return for his plea of guilty.

Brathwaite displayed no reaction as he was led away.

Mr Justice Picken then ruled that the court order protecting Brathwaite’s identity should be lifted because of the seriousness of his offending and because people in the area had the right to know who had murdered Fiona Scourfield.

Crime

Man charged with strangulation and assault offences after October incident

Published

9 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

A MAN recorded in court as having no fixed abode has appeared before magistrates charged with intentional strangulation and two further assault offences.

Michael Sudbury, 50, whose address was not read out in court, but in Herald records is Glan Hafan, Llangwm, appeared before the bench facing multiple charges.

The charges relate to an incident on 22 October 2025 and include:

Intentional strangulation, contrary to section 75A of the Serious Crime Act 2015
Common assault
Assault by beating

No further details of the alleged incident were opened in court, and no plea was entered at this stage.

Sudbury was remanded on conditional bail, with the case listed to return to magistrates later this month.

Crime

Haverfordwest man sent to Crown Court on multiple serious charges

Published

10 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

Defendant remanded in custody

A HAVERFORDWEST man has been sent to Swansea Crown Court to stand trial on a series of A 49-year-old Haverfordwest resident has been committed to Swansea Crown Court to face trial on multiple serious charges deemed too grave for magistrates to handle.

David Guy, of Market Street, Haverfordwest, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates facing a series of allegations stemming from a single case. The charges, which were not detailed in open court, include:

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
A second count of assault
Criminal damage
An additional allegation of interpersonal violence
A public order offence

Magistrates declined jurisdiction, determining that the matters exceeded their sentencing powers, and sent the case in its entirety to Swansea Crown Court.

Guy was remanded in custody pending his next appearance. The court register notes: “Sent to Crown Court for trial in custody – next hearing at Swansea Crown Court.”

A date for the initial Crown Court hearing will be set administratively. Guy will remain in custody until then.

The Pembrokeshire Herald will provide further updates as the case progresses in the Crown Court.

Crime

Castlemartin man back before magistrates over multiple alleged assaults

Published

10 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

Defendant remanded on conditional bail ahead of further hearing

A CASTLEMARTIN man has appeared repeatedly before magistrates this month over a string A 40-year-old man from Castlemartin has made repeated appearances before magistrates this month in connection with a series of serious alleged offences, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), intentional non-fatal strangulation, common assault, and criminal damage.

Anthony Alcock, of Pwll Street, Castlemartin, is facing six linked charges stemming from incidents said to have occurred earlier this year. These appear to relate to the same complainant in what is understood to be a single ongoing domestic abuse prosecution.

During recent administrative hearings at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court, Alcock did not enter pleas while matters of bail and case management were addressed.

Charges Include:

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
Intentional non-fatal strangulation
Common assault on a woman
Criminal damage in a domestic context
Additional assault allegations involving the same complainant
Breach of bail conditions

Alcock was initially granted conditional bail but was subsequently brought before the court on two occasions for alleged breaches. On those instances, magistrates remanded him in custody ahead of further hearings. He was later re-granted conditional bail, subject to strict conditions such as no contact with the complainant and exclusion from specified locations.

Magistrates have now declined jurisdiction, ruling that the case—particularly the more serious charges involving non-fatal strangulation—is too grave for summary trial. It has been committed to Swansea Crown Court for plea, trial, or sentencing.

No detailed evidence has been presented in open court at this preliminary stage. Alcock remains on conditional bail pending his next appearance at the Crown Court.