Mold Crown Court Sentencing Results

Martin Joyce, 28, of Portishead Drive, Milton Keynes, initiated the brawl by travelling to Leighton Arches caravan site in Welshpool in February 2024, standing outside the victim's caravan and calling the victim out for a fight after a prior dispute on Instagram page Traveller Beef in December 2023. This led to shouting, relatives crowding around, a mass brawl with projectiles thrown and weapons brandished, prompting an armed police response and arrests. Joyce was armed with a baseball bat.

Martin Stokes, 25, of Leighton Arches, participated in the mass brawl at the caravan site in Welshpool in February 2024, which erupted after a man called out another man for a fight, leading to shouting, relatives crowding, projectiles thrown, weapons brandished, and an armed police response with arrests.

William Ward was involved in a fraud scheme between March and May 2019, where an 85-year-old man, the victim, was approached by men offering unnecessary home improvements, including jet washing his drive, re-doing his patio, and roof work. The victim paid a total of £92,600, with £21,500 transferred into Ward's bank account. Ward denied involvement initially but was charged. He evaded authorities until February 19, 2024, when he was spotted driving a blue BMW on the M1. He fled from police at speeds up to 160mph, threw a bag of white powder from the vehicle, drove through a red light, and provided false details upon arrest.

Cara Smith, from Dog Lane, Kelsall, Chester, engaged in a prolonged pattern of controlling and coercive behaviour towards her husband, starting around 2018, exacerbated by alcohol consumption. This included multiple physical assaults such as biting, kicking, punching, burning his chest with a cigarette in August 2023, and throwing a fireplace companion set at him in February 2024, resulting in bruises, cuts, and severe sleep deprivation due to her digging into his back after his spinal surgery. The victim became isolated from friends and family, and he expressed fear for his life.

John Evans engaged in blackmail by selling a laptop to a vulnerable adult for £200 and then demanding additional payments through threatening behaviour, including appearing at the victim's home with a knife and threatening to cut the dog's head off if not paid. He and another individual searched the victim's home, took their mobile phone and television as payment, leaving the victim feeling incredibly scared for their safety.

Lucas Partyka was involved in a collision causing injury by dangerous driving on July 3, 2023, on the A5152 in Rhostyllen, where he fled the scene and two occupants sustained injuries. On October 14, 2024, he committed fraud by false representation, using a false identity to hire tools including a lawnmower and leaf blower, resulting in a £1,685 financial loss plus hire costs. On October 21, he assisted in a burglary at Starbucks on Holt Road, causing approximately £5,000 in damage using pliers and a screwdriver, and stole items worth £68.50. Earlier that morning, he attempted a burglary at Londis in Wrexham, causing damage to the door and lock, which left the owner scared. He also engaged in blackmail by selling a laptop to a vulnerable adult for £200, then making repeated threats to demand more money, including suggesting the victim sell his television, and searching the victim's home.

Royston Lloyd left Heineken bottles containing accelerant on the doorsteps of two women, the first victim in Penmaenmawr and the second victim in Colwyn Bay, on October 23, 2023. He also left notes reading 'Next time, you’ll need 999 to put it out' and sent a text message stating he was driving to Penmaenmawr with two petrol bombs. This caused the victims to feel terrified; the first victim took the day off work and installed fire safety equipment, while the second victim moved house, stayed in a hotel for five days, declared herself homeless, and lived in a caravan before finding a new home. The second victim continues to suffer from anxiety, depression, and sleep issues.

Neil Foden, a former headteacher at Ysgol Friars in Bangor and strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, sexually abused four girls between 2019 and 2023. He was convicted of 19 child sex offences following a three-week trial. The jury delivered their verdicts in May last year, and he was sentenced in July last year.

Neil Frederick Foden, a 66-year-old headteacher from Old Colwyn in Colwyn Bay, was found guilty of 19 sexual offences against four victims following a 16-day trial. The offences included sexual activity with a child (x12), causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, attempt to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust (x2), possessing indecent photographs of a child for show, and sexual assault of a child under 13. The offending came to light in September 2023 when the first victim made disclosures, leading to the identification of three additional victims. Evidence included victims' accounts corroborated by mobile devices, computers, forensic evidence, financial enquiries, text messages, and calls linking Foden to the victims. He abused his position of trust as a headteacher to target vulnerable females entrusted to his care.

Shortly after 3am on October 11th 2023, Marcus Rahilly, the tenant of a housing association property on Green Terrace in Trefor, set fire to clothing in a bedroom before leaving the building. Less than two minutes later, the fire alarm sounded. A neighbour heard the alarm, entered the house, discovered the spreading fire, and alerted the fire service, who controlled the blaze and prevented it from spreading to the whole terrace, protecting other residents.

Michael Witter engaged in sexual communication with three teenage children. In one case, a teenager initially told him she was 16, and they met in Colwyn Bay before she disclosed she was younger. He was arrested on November 8, 2024, and gave no comment during his police interview.

In the summer of 2023, Joseph Rothwell engaged in a pattern of controlling and coercive behaviour towards his then-partner the victim in Conwy. This included threatening to murder her and burn down her home during an argument in early July, calling her derogatory names, accusing her of infidelity, and threatening to 'snap her neck'. On July 17, 2023, he sent a voice recording threatening to 'smash her mum's head' and murder her. On August 1, 2023, he locked her in a bedroom, pinned her to the bed, struck her face multiple times, and pinned her to the floor while threatening to kill her. These actions led to a significant decline in the victim's mental health, causing her to feel self-conscious, lose confidence, and avoid going out alone.

On December 22, 2023, David Alfie Williams attended an address in Bodlyn, Acrefair, demanding a cigarette. He smashed a living room window, climbed in through another window, and threatened a group of five people, including making threats to stab one individual. The group locked themselves in the bathroom out of fear as he stabbed the door multiple times with a kitchen knife and banged on the window. He was later apprehended by police after a short foot chase, where he resisted arrest, damaged a police vehicle, and spat at a police officer. He has 32 convictions for 63 offences.

On November 27, 2023, Matthew Parrott was driving a Honda Civic on the A458 in Middletown, near Welshpool, when he overtook a bus by crossing double white lines on a stretch of road with hidden dips and a 50mph limit. This dangerous manoeuvre led to a head-on collision with the victim's red Ford Fiesta, causing her catastrophic injuries and death later that day at a hospital in Stoke-on-Trent. Parrott was able to exit his vehicle, but the victim had no chance to avoid the impact.

Gareth Lewis committed three counts of gross indecency with a boy under the age of 16 in the early 1990s in Yorkshire. The victim was seven years old when the abuse began and reported it in 2015. Lewis denied the offences initially, skipped his trial in 2016, and remained at large for nine years before being arrested and admitting the offences. The victim suffered from crippling anxiety and depression, stating that Lewis robbed him of his childhood and destroyed his trust in people.

Nathan Lloyd, 36, of Carlton Meadows, Llay, Wrexham, punched a 14-year-old boy five times in the face at his home in Llay, Wrexham, on December 8, 2023, after becoming aggressive with his partner following drinking. The boy had told him to calm down. The victim fell, hitting his head on a table and wall, suffering two fractures to his cheekbone and one to his eye socket. He experienced pain, headaches, missed nine weeks of schooling, and required counselling. The incident spilled onto the street where a neighbour intervened. Lloyd claimed self-defence, stating the boys attacked him as a pack.

Sam Williams stabbed the victim in the chest and slashed his face with a knife during an attack in the early hours of 23 November in Welshpool. The incident followed a dispute over a £50 debt, with Williams sending threatening messages and hiding in bushes before attacking when the victim opened his door at his home in Foundry Lane. The victim suffered significant blood loss, required treatment at a trauma centre to remove blood from his lung, and continues to deal with nerve damage and psychological effects.

Dino Marku, an asylum seeker from Albania, was found hiding behind boxes in a cannabis farm at the former County Times offices in Welshpool on January 9, 2024. The farm consisted of three grow rooms equipped with lights, air filters, and fans, containing 246 cannabis plants with an estimated value of up to £258,300. He had been hired to water the plants and monitor security cameras, expecting a £10,000 payment, and had only recently entered the UK.

On August 18th, 2023, Geoffrey Pennington subjected his disabled wife to an incident of domestic abuse at their home in Glan yr Eglwys, Northop. He pinned her to the bed, punched her repeatedly, and held a knife to her throat. Earlier that evening, he was verbally abusive, which she secretly voice recorded. His wife called the police in the early hours, but Pennington took the phone and cleared the line. Officers attended, and she disclosed the assault and provided the recording. He was arrested at the scene and remanded in custody until sentencing.

On 15 September 2023, at The Magpie & Stump public house in Palin's Holiday Park, Kinmel Bay, Ian Loftus and his son attended with their Rottweiler cross dog 'Kilo'. After initially leaving following a request to control the dog, they returned. Loftus brought the dog into the beer garden where it bit a member of staff on the arm and a customer on the arm and bicep. The dog then attacked two more people after jumping out of the defendants' car, causing puncture wounds and bruising. Three of the four injured required hospital treatment.

On June 9, last year, Kenneth Jones punched the victim outside The Bell Hotel in Commercial Street, Newtown, after the victim badgered him for drugs. The single punch caused catastrophic brain injuries, leaving the victim in a permanent vegetative state requiring palliative care. Jones was captured on CCTV, and the incident led to the victim needing brain surgery and ongoing life support.

Craig McDermid left a sexually explicit note saying 'lift your skirt up' for a schoolgirl at a bus stop in Flintshire in May 2024. The girl had previously noticed his red car parked nearby and suspected he was filming her; the car would drive away once she boarded the bus. Police traced the vehicle to him using CCTV footage, leading to his arrest. The incident caused the girl to feel anxious and confused, and her father to experience extreme anger.

Ian Hunter, 43, renovated a five-bedroom family home in Pantasaph, Flintshire, into a cannabis factory, causing extensive damage including water damage leading to roof collapse and unsafe electricity extraction. The operation was discovered during a police raid on September 7, 2023, yielding 17 kilos of cannabis with a street value up to £259,000 and wholesale value up to £87,000. He set up the factory due to large debts, intending to share proceeds with his co-accused. Phones showed daily communication about cultivation.

On March 17, 2023, Rhys Roberts boarded a train at Colwyn Bay, kicked it, shouted and swore on the phone, refused to leave without a ticket, lashed out at the train driver hitting him repeatedly, kicked a staff member, pulled the emergency lever causing a 63-minute delay and over £1,100 in compensation claims. On August 4, 2023, while on bail, he breached a restraining order by being with his former partner in Wrexham; at 1am he struck her face with considerable force, threw a cat and pile of washing at her, repeatedly hit and kicked her face, and restricted her breathing with his forearm across her throat.

Callum Abbott, a 24-year-old from Newtown, breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by communicating with an underage girl on hundreds of occasions between April 11 and June 3, including kissing and cuddling her in Warrington and booking a hotel room for them. He also stayed at an unregistered address and failed to comply with the sex offenders register. This breach relates to a prior punishment for engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl in August 2022. The judge noted that Abbott's actions were not sexually motivated in this instance but emphasised his failure to obey court orders, citing his vulnerabilities from childhood trauma and recent loss of his mother.

Sara Hall, aged 46, was sentenced for offences of perverting the course of justice and child cruelty by allowing Matthew Aldridge's sexual abuse of three young girls to occur despite knowing the risk of sexual harm, and for coercing one victim to change her evidence against him in 2016. She failed to safeguard the children over 20 years.