THESE criminals from across west Wales have been jailed in June.
The defendants came before the court charged with offences including historical sexual abuse, assaults, sexual assault, a £32,000 fraud, and drug dealing, having indecent images of children, growing cannabis, and entering the UK after being deported.
They were jailed for a combined total of more than 57 years.
Here’s a round-up of their cases.
David Wyn Williams
David Wyn Williams, 43, of Borth was found guilty of the historical sexual abuse of two children.
During a trial, Swansea Crown Court heard that Dyfed-Powys Police launched an investigation in to Williams after one victim made a report of historical abuse.
Following extensive enquires, and despite no DNA evidence and the non-recent nature of the allegations, a further victim was identified.
Williams was charged with two charges of rape, one of attempted rape and two of sexual activity with a child.
The trial was originally set to be heard at Swansea Crown Court in January of this year, however, this was adjourned until the week of May 13.
Following deliberations of just three hours, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on offences of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual activity with a child.
Williams was subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison, must register as a sex offender for life, and was made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Detective Inspector Sam Gregory, of Dyfed-Powys Police, commended the bravery and strength of the victims in coming forward and throughout the investigation.
“Williams is a sexual predator who had no regard for his victims, who were children,” he added.
Lukasz Hatlas
Lukasz Hatlas, now 34, of Cartlett in Haverfordwest, filmed himself sexually assaulting a woman with a banana whilst she slept before threatening to post the video on Facebook.
Across a three-day period at the victim's home in Swansea, Hatlas and the victim drunk alcohol and engaged in consensual sex. After three days, the victim asked him to leave.
She later received a video call from Hatlas, where he started undressing to get in to the bath. She was “uncomfortable” and hung up.
Hatlas then sent the victim a series of messages, which, when translated from Polish, included: “I’ve got films of you”.
He then sent her a video on Facebook Messenger which showed him sexually assaulting her with a banana whilst she was asleep.
He then told her he “had 34 more videos” and said that she “would be finished” and that “FB (Facebook) would go mad”.
The victim reported Hatlas to the police on April 26, and he was arrested two days later.
Judge Catherine Richards jailed Hatlas for a total of six years. The defendant must register as a sex offender for life, and his victim was granted a 10-year restraining order against him.
Jonathon Stapleton
Military veteran Jonathon Stapleton, 43, hit his partner and stood on her throat as he accused her of cheating after a day of drinking whilst watching the Six Nations.
Stapleton, of Marshall Road in Monkton, had been drinking whilst out with his partner watching the Six Nations on February 10. Before leaving, he grew angry at her for “taking too long” in the toilet and accused her of cheating.
When they got back to her home in Pembroke Dock, and he again accused her of cheating – which she ignored.
Stapleton sat next to her on the bed and grabbed her wrist trying to take her phone, shouting at her. He then punched her to the top of the head.
The victim managed to phone 999 and curled in to a ball on the bed to protect herself. The defendant noticed she had phoned the police, and said ‘You must think I’m f****** stupid” before grabbing it and hanging up. He then slapped her, causing her nose to bleed.
The victim was forced to the floor, and Stapleton put his foot on her throat. She managed to prise his foot off, but he put it back on to her throat and applied more pressure. As he did this, he was sat on the bed and scrolling through her phone.
Stapleton wouldn’t let the police in, appearing at the bathroom window instead. Police became concerned after the victim appeared at the window and “looked petrified”. Firearms officers were called for support.
When the victim came to the door, the officers noticed she had swelling on her head and there was blood on her trousers.
The officers attempted to arrest Stapleton, with at one stage five officers trying to restrain him. Officers used PAVA spray on him but this only further enraged him. Stapleton hit an officer in the face with his forearm, and then hit him again.
The defendant was Tasered and then arrested after he was restrained.
Judge Catherine Richards sentenced him to a total of two years imprisonment. His victim was granted a five-year restraining order against him.
Ceri Lewis
Ceri Lewis, 49, of Quarry Road in Treboeth, Swansea, syphoned off more than £32,000 from his employers.
Lewis had been convicted in 2012 of five offences – including of two of theft by an employee and two of making false representations.
Despite this, Lewis was hired as a car salesman at Penybanc Car Sales in Ammanford in 2014.
Richard Safadi, the owner of the company, knew Lewis already and hired him as he was “considered to be a good salesperson” and “had changed his ways”.
However, shortly after being hired, Lewis stole between £300 and £400 from the business. When Mr Safadi challenged him, Lewis “cried and begged” and told his boss he would pay the money back.
He was given another chance, and as the company grew, Lewis was given more responsibilities – including being entrusted to carry out banking transactions using the business account.
Mr Safadi then began receiving calls from creditors saying they hadn’t been paid. He initially paid the money, believing it to have been an error, but after a VAT review in June 2022, Lewis’ offending was uncovered.
An accountant found Mrs Safadi, a director of the company, hadn’t been paid “for a number of months” as Lewis had edited the payment to send it to his own account – keeping the reference the same and remove his own details from the business’ recent payees.
Further examination found he had been syphoning off money from the business since June 2019, and had stolen a total of £32,798.79.
Mr Safadi confronted Lewis, who admitted taking the money and promised to repay it, adding that his parents would be guarantors.
Lewis had repaid £21,000, but when he was unable to keep paying the money back, Mr Safadi went to see the defendant’s parents. They did not know anything about what had happened. As a result, Mr Safadi went to the police.
Lewis pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Andrew Doig
Andrew Doig, 41, of Hazeldene Avenue in Brackla, Bridgend, strangled his sister and punched his disabled mother after they poured his bottle of vodka down the sink.
Andrew Doig and his sister were staying with their mother in Simpson Cross. Whilst there, Doig was told by his mum he wasn’t to drink more than four cans per day.
She noticed on October 30 that he was “heavily intoxicated”, so went in to his room and found a bottle of vodka. She took this in to the kitchen and his sister poured down the sink.
Doig “lost his temper and became verbally abusive”, started pointing his finger at his 70-year-old mother – who was paralysed in one of her legs – and was “turning red” in anger.
His sister stepped in, saying: ‘She’s your mother. Pick on someone your own size.’
The defendant turned to his sister, being verbally abusive, pointing his finger in her face, and swinging punches at her – which all missed. Whilst he was doing this, his mother called the police.
Doig grabbed his sister by the throat and pushed her up against the kitchen cabinets. His mother tried to intervene, but he turned and punched and spat at her.
The defendant left the kitchen, but returned immediately and grabbed his sister by the hair and dragged her in to the living room before climbing on top of her. She managed to kick him off, and he went to leave the house.
As police officers reached the door Doig came outside from round the side of the house. When interviewed by the police, he claimed he was acting in self-defence.
He was also charged with burglary an address on Cowbridge Road East in the Canton area of Cardiff on the morning of February 22. The victim woke to find Doig standing at the foot of her bed. When she confronted him he fled, and she found “a number of items” at her front door that the defendant had moved.
Doig pleaded guilty to strangulation and assault by beating, and an offence of burglary.
He was sentenced to a total of 39 months in prison, and his mother and sister were granted three-year restraining orders against him.
Kris Maisey
Convicted sex offender Kris Maisey downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children just weeks after he was released from prison.
Maisey had previously been convicted of having indecent images of children in July 2021, and then jailed for the same three offences as well as two of breaching a sexual harm prevention order in December 2022.
Maisey was busted again after he began messaging an undercover police officer who he thought was a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat.
Maisey began messaging the decoy using a false name on December 4. He asked how old the ‘girl’ was, and when the officer said 13, Maisey replied ‘Yikes’, before the conversation soon turned sexual.
Maisey told the decoy “All I can think about is how good it would feel to f*** you”, and also messaged about taking the ‘girl’s’ virginity. He also asked for her to send pictures of her with her school jumper pulled up and of her in a bikini.
He was arrested on December 20, and an analysis of his phone found a total of 316 indecent images of children on his phone – the first of which had been accessed on November 16 – just 22 days after he had been released from prison.
Maisey, 33, of Norton Road in Penygroes, was jailed for a total of four years in prison.
David Davies
David Davies, 31, of George Street in Milford Haven, sunk 20 pints of cider before launching a “sustained and merciless” attack on a man who had an affair with his ex-partner.
Davies and the victim were drinking separately in The Lord Kitchener pub in Milford Haven in to the early hours of April 6.
They passed each other in the street after they left and exchanged words, before Davies punched the victim in the face.
The man was then thrown to the floor and Davies straddled him, punching him in the face. When he got off, he then kicked the victim three times.
The men were separated by the witness, and the victim was eventually able to stand and walk home – having suffered two black eyes, a split lip, swelling on his nose, and was coughing up blood the next morning.
Davies attended Haverfordwest Police Station and was arrested on suspicion of assault. His shoes – which were the same ones he had worn on the night of the assault – had blood marks on them.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
The court heard Davies had been drinking since 11am that day after an argument with the mother of his children, and it reached “a perfect storm” when he saw the victim – who had an affair with Davies’ ex-partner had an affair two years ago.
He was jailed for two years and two months.
Brian Wright and Leanne Harland
Brian Wright and Leanne Harland were busted dealing drugs at a hotel in Milford Haven.
Staff at Tŷ Milford Waterfront hotel noticed the couple acting strangely as they stayed at the hotel from December 16, and on December 19 Wright was “aggressive with staff” and told them not to come in to their room without checking with the couple.
They called the police, and when searched out in the hallway, Wright was found to have £780 in cash, four bags of cocaine and a crack pipe in his pockets.
Inside the room, the police found lines of cocaine set out on a tray and a black lockbox containing €50, weighing scales, and a bag of white powder.
In total, officers seized 13.77 grams of amphetamine, 46 grams of ketamine, and 22 grams of cocaine which had been packed “for onward supply”, as well as mobile phones and snap bags.
Both defendants’ phones had messages showing their involvement in dealing, whilst Harland also had videos of her picking up “large amounts of cash”.
The court also heard that Harland’s young daughter was in the room during parts of their stay.
Wright, 43, of Hubberston, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine between July 6 and December 19, possession with intent to supply cocaine, and possession of ketamine and amphetamine. He also pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property – relating to the £780 and €50 in cash.
Harland, 42, of Harbour Way in Hakin, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between July 6 and December 20, 2023.
Wright was jailed for three years, whilst Harland was sentenced to 30 months.
Owen Maddocks
Drug dealer Owen Maddocks was busted after police found over 1.2kg of cannabis and £4,905 in cash in his room when officers went to speak to him about an unrelated matter.
Police attended Maddocks’ mum’s house on June 15 last year to speak with the defendant. In the defendant’s room, they discovered “a large quantity of cash”, as well as 1.284kg of cannabis, around 147 MDMA tablets, and a total of around 18 grams of cocaine.
Maddocks was arrested and was released on bail as officers continued their investigations.
On April 5, Maddocks was the passenger in a car that was pulled over by the police. He admitted having cannabis on him, as well as at his flat and at his mum’s house.
In total, officers recovered a further 72 grams of cannabis.
Maddocks told police in interview that he was dealing because he had drug debts.
Maddocks, 23, of Hywel Road in Haverfordwest, admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis, possession of MDMA and possessing criminal property – relating to the cash – all from June 15. He also admitted a second charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply on April 5.
Judge Richards ordered that the £4,905 that was seized was to be used by Dyfed-Powys Police in their work combatting drug trafficking.
Kieran Jones
Kieran Jones, 26, of Peregrine Close in Haverfordwest, was jailed after being caught in possession of cocaine and heroin.
On August 3 last year, police were on patrol on Thomas Parry Way in Haverfordwest. They spotted Jones and his co-defendant Samatha Whelton.
Jones darted, but the officers managed to catch up with him and put one handcuff on. However, they struggled to apprehend him due to his size and the amount he was resisting.
The defendant managed to reach in to his pocket and opened a bag dumping a white powder on to the tarmac. The powder was later found to be around 0.211 grams of cocaine.
Whelton, 38, of Heol Derwen in Merlin’s Bridge, came over and attempted to grind the powder in to the ground with her feet.
Jones had approached a white Toyota before running, and when officers searched under the car, they found a bag containing 30 grams of cocaine and 20.8 grams of diamorphine.
An analysis of Jones’ phone found messages showing his involvement in dealing, whilst Whelton’s phone showed she assisted Jones by answering and passing on messages to him.
Jones pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and diamorphine – both Class A drugs – and obstructing a constable in the exercise of their duties.
He was jailed for a total of 47 months, whilst Whelton was handed a 22-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Lukas Citavicius
Lukas Citavicius, 26, was previously deported from the UK in May 22, 2022, however he was back before the court after he was caught at a ferry port trying to leave for Ireland.
On May 29 of this year, Citavicius was found at Fishguard Port attempting to board a ferry to Rosslare.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Citavicius had returned to the UK due to concerns for his mother’s health, and had been in the country for a month when he was discovered.
He told officers he was trying to leave the county so he could return to Lithuania, and he felt the “safest route” for him was via Ireland.
The court heard that Citavicius was keen to return home to Lithuania where he lived with his wife and children and was employed. His mother’s condition had also improved, and she was planning to move to Lithuania too.
He pleaded guilty to knowingly entering the UK in breach of a deportation order.
Judge Huw Rees sentenced Citavicius to two months in prison. He added that a deportation order would be enforced “immediately” after that sentence has been served.
Mathew Reading
Mathew Reading, 31, of Maes Y Llan in Dinas Cross, exposed himself as he urinated on his victim’s driveway in front of a woman and a 12-year-old boy, just days after landing a man in hospital in a pub attack.
Reading was arrested after he attacked a man in a pub in Fishguard on January 27. He was released on bail as the police investigated the incident.
On the evening of January 31, the man’s wife and their 12-year-old son, who is non-verbal autistic, were at home when their dog started barking. The boy went to the door to see what was happening.
Reading was standing with his penis exposed and was urinating on the driveway. As he was doing this, he shouted “You’re having it” and when the boy’s mum came to the door, he told her to “f*** off”.
Reading brandished his middle finger towards the house as he urinated on the drive.
He was arrested early the next morning.
Reading answered no comment to all questions in interview, but pleaded guilty in the magistrates’ court to exposure and witness intimidation – relating to his going to the man’s home days after his arrest for the attack.
He was later charged with common assault relating to the pub attack, which he admitted.
Mr Walters told the court that the man Reading assaulted was not at home at the time as he was in hospital following the attack.
He jailed Reading for eight months for witness intimidation, and a further two months for exposure. Reading must also register as a sex offender for seven years, and the victim was granted a two-year restraining order.
Jay Ashby
Drug dealer Jay Ashby, of Pen Y Bryn in Ystradgynlais, was jailed after police raided his home at around 6.30pm on May 10.
Ashby was sitting on the sofa, and pointed officers to a drawer where they found 10.5 grams of cocaine and a set of weighing scales.
Ashby, 28, was arrested and told officers that the cocaine was for his own personal use.
His mobile phone was seized, and messages were found which showed he had been involved in dealing cocaine.
Ashby pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession with intent to supply cocaine, and possession of criminal property – relating to £1,000 in cash seized during the raid.
Sentencing Ashby, Judge Huw Rees said: “You were doing it for a fast buck.”
Judge Rees sentenced Ashby to a total of two years and four months in prison.
Beni Mirashi
Beni Mirashi, 26, of no fixed abode, was found hiding under some insulation in the attic as police raided a vacant hotel and restaurant which had been kitted out as a cannabis farm.
Dyfed-Powys Police raided the Mountain Gate Inn in Tycroes on May 21.
As they searched the property, they found two function rooms with “a large amount of cannabis plants”, as well as equipment used for growing cannabis.
102 plants were found in the first room, whilst 205 plants were found in the second room. These had each grown to around four to five feet. In a separate room, 480 plants were found in a nursery state.
Dyfed-Powys Police experts estimated the plants could have produced a yield of between 20kg and 62kg of cannabis.
Upstairs the officers found a room which appeared to be a living quarters – with a bed, a wardrobe containing men’s clothes, a fridge, a coffee machine, and a TV inside. A cup of coffee in the room was still lukewarm.
Mirashi was found hiding in the attic and was arrested.
The court heard that Mirashi had entered the UK illegally in August 2023 and was homeless until he was “offered a job by two Albanians”. He was then taken to the premises in Tycroes and told how to tend to the cannabis plants.
Judge Catherine Richards sentenced Mirashi to 11 months in prison.
Robert Abbott
Robert Abbott, 38, Oystermouth Road in Swansea, has been jailed after he admitted sexually assaulting a woman and attacking her and two others when drunk.
Abbott was charged with seven offences relating to a series of incidents in Milford Haven on May 3.
The defendant was accused of touching a woman without her consent and assaulting her in what was described as a “sustained assault”. During the attack, he also caused damage to her Samsung phone.
Abbott was also alleged to have attacked a second woman in her own home in a “pre-meditated assault” and “revenge attack”.
He also attacked the first victim’s brother – who was only in the area to pick his sister up – and caused damage to the brother’s Audi.
Abbott pleaded guilty to two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, one of assault by beating, one of sexual assault, two offences of criminal damage, and one of possessing cannabis.
He was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court for a total of six years and four months – with a minimum three years and four months in custody and an extended licence period of three years.
Gary Patterson
Gary Patterson, 37, of Ffynnon Las, broke in to an unoccupied council flat and ripped out heating and gas pipes, causing a gas leak.
The police attended Granby Close in Llanelli on April 18 to check on the occupant, but whilst they were there they found Patterson in the flat.
He falsely claimed he had been staying at the address, and the police asked him to leave. Patterson then left the flat via a back window.
He was arrested with a bag full of copper piping heading towards the Trostre area.
“Extensive damage” was caused inside the flat, with gas and water piping missing having been ripped out, and emergency services and council staff were called after officers noticed a smell of gas and a hissing noise.
He admitted the burglary last month at Swansea Crown Court.
Judge Geraint Walters sentenced Patterson to a total of 876 days in prison.
Marcus Williams
Convicted sex offender Marcus Williams was released from prison on March 25.
On April 15, he attended at a hospital in London due to experiencing issues with his mental health. Staff at the hospital mistook him for a patient from Carmarthenshire, so he was advised to see the mental health team in Carmarthenshire.
Williams’ travel was arranged, and he was booked in to the Travelodge in St Clears.
The defendant was due to notify police of any address he stayed at within three days under the terms of the sex offender register. On April 22, Dyfed-Powys Police were informed Williams was staying at the Travelodge, but had not registered this with them.
Although he wasn’t present when officers arrived at the Travelodge, he was soon found on Station Road after a search.
Williams told the officers he had had “a traumatic time after his release from prison” and did not have access to a phone. He stated that he thought, as his travel and accommodation had been arranged for him, the police would have also been notified of where he would be,
Williams, 51, whose given address to the court was the Travelodge in St Clears, was jailed for 24 weeks after admitting failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offender register.
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