THESE eleven defendants from across west Wales have been sent to prison recently.
Two of the defendants caused the death of a 21-year-old passenger in a crash after driving dangerously, while another was described by a judge as the most “fundamentally dishonest” man he’s dealt with during his more than 40-year career in the courtroom.
Some of the other offences these criminals were convicted for include being concerned in the supply of cannabis, burglary, inflicting grievous bodily harm, blackmail, and making threats to kill.
The defendants have been jailed for a combined more than 37 years.
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Here’s a round-up of the cases.
Emma Price and Jago Clarke
Learner drivers Emma Price and Jago Clarke were jailed after killing 21-year-old passenger Ella Smith in a crash at Portfield Gate on June 13, 2021.
Clarke, of Sunningdale Drive in Hubberston, and Price, of Holloway in Haverfordwest, were racing when driving back from Broad Haven towards Haverfordwest on the B4341 – with black box data from the Ford Ka driven by Clarke showing they averaged 70mph over the two miles before the crash.
The Citroen moved back over the correct side of the road in front of the Ka, and then Clarke lost control, and went across the road and in to the Seat Ibiza.
Miss Smith – a passenger in the Ford Ka – was killed in the crash, and Daisy Buck – the passenger in the Seat Ibiza – was seriously injured.
Clarke and Price, both now 21, were each charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and causing death by driving whilst unlicensed and uninsured.
They were convicted following a trial at Swansea Crown Court in December.
The defendants were both sentenced to a total of 10 years, and were banned from driving for a total of 11 years each. They will both have to pass an extended retest.
Darryl Evans
Fraudster Darryl Evans was described by a judge as the most “fundamentally dishonest” man he’s dealt with during his more than 40-year career in the courtroom after he conned his victims in to paying him over half a million pounds.
Darryl Evans was jailed for a total of eight years after last month being convicted of 26 charges of fraud and one charge of theft.
Following an almost three-week trial, the jury deliberated for around two hours and 45 minutes before returning guilty verdicts on each of the 27 charges.
It was alleged that Evans conned his victims in to handing him more than half a million pounds between 2013 and 2020.
In what was since described by one of the victims as a “Ponzi scheme”, he convinced friends and acquaintances to make high value payments which he said he would put into investment schemes on their behalf.
In reality, he was out of work and funding his own lifestyle.
Evans’ criminal behaviour came to light in 2018, when his victims failed to receive any money from the ‘investments’ and their suspicions were raised.
The court heard that Evans had repaid some of the money to maintain his deceit that he had invested the money, but the actual losses still totalled more than £377,000.
The theft charge related to Evans making himself the executor of a will and paying money directly in to his own bank account.
“You lied during the trial with a fluency which was almost breath-taking.”
Evans, 62, of Green Court Crescent in Tenby, was jailed for seven years, running concurrently, for the first 25 counts of fraud, with a further year for the remaining fraud charge and the theft.
Michele Castiglia
RAF veteran Michele Castiglia was jailed after threatening to stab his partner and blackmailing her, saying that if he didn’t receive money he would “go through you and your family like a f****** train”.
Michele Castiglia, 37, of Clive Road, was jailed for a total of two years and nine months when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court accused of blackmail, making threats to kill, criminal damage, and threatening to damage property.
He had previously pleaded guilty to all charges.
Castiglia argued with his partner at their Fishguard home on the morning of September 8, and after he went upstairs and punched a hole in the wall, his partner asked him to leave – which he did.
Later that day, she received a message from Castiglia. It read: ‘Tell your dad that there better be money in my account by 6 o’clock or I’ll go through you and your family like a f****** train’.
He also continued to send her abusive messages, and she told him not to come home, to which he replied that he never wanted to see her or their children again.
But at just before 10pm that night, he turned up at the house and began trying to force his way inside.
He messaged her saying: ‘Phone the police. I’m going to stab you or I’m going to kill you’.
When the police arrived, concerned neighbours told officers that Castiglia had fled down a lane, and he was arrested.
David Williams
David Williams attacked a man who he had “something of a history” with outside an address in Ammanford in the early hours of September 10.
After the victim had gone out drinking with a friend in Ammanford, he went to an address to buy cannabis in the early hours of the morning.
As he approached the address, he saw Williams in the window – who started shouting at him.
The victim turned away, but the defendant rushed out of the property and punched him to the right cheek.
He then repeatedly punched the victim in the face, before dragging him to the floor and kicking him repeatedly to the torso.
“The defendant ran back to the address leaving the complainant bloodied on the floor,” prosecutor Hannah George said.
The victim suffered “extensive bruising to his torso and swelling to his face”.
He went to Morriston Hospital the following day, and was told he had suffered two factures to the jaw, one of which needed emergency surgery. He had metal plates installed and four teeth were removed.
Williams was arrested on September 11, and told police in interview that the victim was already injured when he arrived at the address. This was disproved by CCTV footage from shortly before the incident.
Williams, 45, of River Way, admitted inflicting GBH on the day of trial.
The judge sentenced Williams to two years and 10 days in prison, and granted the victim a five-year restraining order against Williams.
Gentian Zhupa and Ergest Mucopata
Gentian Zhupa, 35, and Ergest Mucopata, 42, had been working on a cannabis farm in a unit at Honeyborough Industrial Estate to pay off debts to a criminal gang which smuggled them in to the country.
Officers found 814 cannabis plants in the industrial unit in a raid on the afternoon of November 17 last year, while there was also basic living facilities for the men and the electricity had also been bypassed.
The plants had an estimated yield of between 22kg and 68kg of cannabis, the prosecution said, and the cannabis would have a had street value of between £88,000 and £350,000 – depending on the yield.
The men – both of no fixed abode – were arrested at the scene.
The court heard that Zhupa had been trafficked in to the UK by a criminal gang and had been working at the farm to pay off debts to the gang. He had been at the farm for around 10 days by the time he was arrested.
Mucopata had been in the UK for around two weeks when he was arrested, and had been smuggled in to the county in a lorry. He had decided to come to the UK to earn money and a better life for his family – but was working at the farm to pay off debts to the gang.
Both men had denied a charge of abstracting electricity. The prosecution accepted these pleas, and not guilty verdicts were passed.
Thomas Fadian
Burglar Thomas Fadian stole a PS5, a Nintendo Switch, and a laptop from Cardiff University’s Talybont Student Halls on August 5 last year
The occupier had left the room for his dinner at around 6.30pm. When he returned around two hours later, he found his PS5 and games, Nintendo Switch, and a Dell laptop had been taken. A smaller laptop and the victim’s wallet had also been stolen.
The total value of the items stolen was around £1,000.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that the window had been left slightly open, and had been damaged as it was forced further open when Fadian broke in.
Police investigators noticed fingerprints – which matched the defendant’s – on the window of the room, and CCTV footage from the student halls showed Fadian dressed in black, looking in to windows, and pulling an object out of his backpack.
Following a police appeal, 40-year-old Fadian, of Bolgoed Road, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to burglary, and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.
Richard Pace
Richard Pace was subject to a restraining order imposed by Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in January 2016. However, he breached this order at the Premier Inn on Fishguard Road in Haverfordwest on January 16.
He pleaded guilty to harassment by breaching a restraining order at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on January 18.
Pace, 39, of Ninian Park Road in Cardiff, also admitted stealing handbags worth £129.98 from TK Maxx in Cwmbran on April 7.
The defendant was jailed for six months for the restraining order breach, and must pay £85 in costs. He was also ordered to pay £129.98 in compensation to TK Maxx, and was jailed for two weeks – running concurrently – for shoplifting.
Alisha Stokes
Alisha Stokes attacked a woman and damaged a window in Pembroke on Christmas Eve.
Stokes, 29, was charged with assault by beating and criminal damage following an incident in the town on December 24, 2023.
She was also charged with failing to surrender to bail at the appointed time, after she did not attend Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on January 2.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all three charges at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on January 3.
She was jailed for 10 weeks for the assault, and was ordered to pay £300 in compensation, costs of £85 and a surcharge of £!54. She received four-week sentences, running concurrently, for each of the other offences.
The victim was granted a restraining order against Stokes for two years.
Darren Markes
Darren Markes, of Cartlett in Haverfordwest, admitted breaching a domestic violence protection order.
The order had been made by Llanelli Magistrates Court on December 18, 2023.
However, just weeks later, he breached the order by contacting the woman, going in to her home in Haverfordwest, and being violent towards her on Sunday, January 7.
He was jailed for eight weeks when he pleaded guilty to the breach at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on January 8.
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