Swansea Crown Court Sentencing Results

Joshua Hayman, 33, was involved in bribery at Bessemer Close Commercial Recycling Centre, exploiting position to deprive Cardiff Council of income through misrepresented waste amounts, causing £417,000 losses. Part of South Wales Police investigation under Bribery Act starting 2017 after whistleblower. Cash seized from home.

On 6 December 2025, Joseph Cullen stabbed the victim twice in the back with a large knife outside St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Swansea. The victim fled but was chased by Cullen. The attack followed a street argument between the victim and a witness, which arose after the victim failed to retrieve stolen belongings for the witness. Cullen and the witness were later arrested. Cullen has eight previous convictions covering 66 offences, including assault and weapons possession.

Katie Kelshaw chased people through the streets near a busy Swansea railway station while armed with a kitchen knife with an eight-inch blade on 11 May. She was arrested the same day after further disorder; in custody she racially abused a police officer and was found with a forged £20 note and three bank cards hidden in her bra. A person whose card was found in her possession reported losing consciousness after accepting a drink and a cigarette in the city centre and later discovering the card missing. In a second incident, Kelshaw racially abused staff and spat at people at a takeaway, then ran from officers and spat at and racially abused another officer during arrest. The judge remarked that the people of Swansea were fed up with her offending and said she became truculent and difficult under the influence of drink or drugs.

Joshua Wells carried out a series of shoplifting offences across Wales and the south west of England over six weeks. He stole alcohol from Tesco stores in Haverfordwest, Ammanford, Barry and Pontardulais, and goods from Asda stores in Barry and Coryton. The thefts included alcohol worth £415, £889 and £416 from Tesco Haverfordwest on 3, 20 and 29 June, and £248.50 of alcohol from Tesco Ammanford on 3 June. On 13 July he stole £928 of alcohol from Tesco Haverfordwest and £935 from Tesco Ammanford with a co-defendant. The thefts involved planning, with bags lined with tin foil, and sometimes paying for only some items or none. He was arrested on 13 July in Ammanford. He also committed shoplifting incidents in Devon and Cornwall.

Kelly Vick committed a number of shoplifting offences. She stole two sandwiches and two bags of crisps from B&M in Cardiff on 19 May, and later stole food and several AU vodka cans from Asda in Coryton. On 13 July she stole £928 of alcohol from Tesco in Haverfordwest and £935 of alcohol from Tesco in Ammanford with a co-defendant. The thefts involved planning, with bags lined with tin foil, and sometimes paying for only some items or none. She was arrested on 13 July in Ammanford. The court heard that the goods she stole were worth approximately £1900.

Andrew Barnett, 54, was involved in corrupt activity at Bessemer Close Commercial Recycling Centre run by Cardiff City Council, where bribes were paid to misrepresent the type or amount of waste deposited to reduce billed amounts, resulting in losses of around £417,000 to the council. The investigation began in 2017 following a whistleblower allegation.

Anthony Miles, 55, participated in corruption at Bessemer Close Commercial Recycling Centre run by Cardiff City Council, where council staff accepted bribes to under-report waste, leading to £417,000 losses. Investigation by South Wales Police began 2017 following whistleblower. Cash seized from home.

Found in possession of one wrap of cocaine during search after interception of Volkswagen T-Cross on M4 at Margam on April 19, 2024. Phones showed multiple trips between London and Swansea with Stirton, hotel bookings, and association with drugs line, but jury acquitted her of trafficking charges, accepting she was unaware of Stirton's dealing.

On 26 December 2023, Alfie Jack Field stabbed his partner in the upper leg with a knife, causing a 5cm deep wound that required a blood transfusion. At Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, the victim initially told medical staff the injury was caused by a falling knife, but staff contacted police because her account did not match the severity of the wound. Field remained with her in hospital to prevent her from disclosing what had happened. He was arrested and later pleaded guilty to wounding without intent and threatening a person with an offensive weapon or bladed article in a private place.

Ben Stephen Thomas Barrett, 37, of Maes y Farchnad, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, was subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) since 2018, prohibiting him from deleting or concealing his online activities. In October 2025, eSafe monitoring software on his phone alerted police that he had been using the Polybuzz app to engage in conversations with an AI chatbot about child sexual abuse. When officers attended his home to inspect the device, the app had been removed. He was arrested for breaching his SHPO. The court heard Barrett had four previous convictions for 16 offences, including possessing indecent images in 2016 and 2018, and failing to comply with the sex offenders register in 2020. He pleaded guilty to the breach. At Swansea Crown Court, Recorder Paul Lewis KC sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, with additional requirements of 80 hours unpaid work, a rehabilitation course, and an accredited programme, warning that any further breach would see him sent straight into custody.

Barrie Wilks repeatedly breached a restraining order against his neighbour in June 2026. He leaned over her fence, opened her garden gate, climbed over fences, made menacing faces into her CCTV while holding a hammer, and nailed corrugated metal sheets over the cameras. After being arrested and bailed, he continued the harassment and daubed the neighbour's fence with green paint. The victim said his behaviour had made her life unbearable.

Bilal Shabir drove 200 miles to a Welsh town to carry out a clean-up at a large-scale cannabis farm. He was intercepted by police as he crossed the border to return to England with dozens of bin bags full of harvested cannabis worth more than £130,000 in the back of his van.

Arash Mohammadi was at a property in the Waun Wen area of Swansea when police attended to arrest a woman in relation to drugs offences. He was found concealing a rucksack inside his jumper containing 28.5 grams of cocaine and £1,610.88. The court heard he had been given the rucksack by the woman and was hiding it on her behalf.

Brian Buckle, a father and former construction manager from Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, was convicted in 2017 at Swansea Crown Court of 16 counts of historical child sex abuse. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and spent five years and four months in prison. His conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in September 2022, and a retrial in May 2023 resulted in unanimous not guilty verdicts.

Chris Williams downloaded photographs of a teenage girl from her mother's Facebook page without her knowledge and sent them to a contact in the United States. Police found 103 indecent images of children, including 41 Category A images, and 81 extreme images depicting bestiality. Williams used the Telegram messaging app under the name 'Welsh Guy' and discussed child sexual abuse in graphic detail with the contact, encouraging abuse of the contact's daughter while she was asleep.

On 30 March 2026, Christopher Eaton was part of a group of six that attacked a shopworker in Swansea city centre after a member of staff recovered a bag of T-shirts taken from a clothing store. The group punched and kicked the shopworker, who was helped by a passing cycle delivery rider. Eaton had earlier broken a glass panel in a restaurant door in January, was found carrying a knife near Swansea Marina in February, and later assaulted his partner. He had previous convictions including arson, drugs matters, affray, possession of bladed articles, and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Christopher Haynes, a former secondary school English teacher, conducted a sustained campaign of coercive control against his ex-wife during their marriage. He dictated who she could see, who could visit their home, and what music was played. He dismissed her work colleagues as below him, pressured her to give up her job, accused her of laziness while spending family money on expensive holidays and gifts. He threatened to have her killed via Freemasons connections, warning 'one call, one bullet'. Engaged in heavy drinking, creating a home life like walking on eggshells. When arrested, denied threats claiming he was besotted with her. Victim described love bombing, isolation, shattered confidence, family home as a prison.

Cesario DeAbreu, 33, weighbridge operator at Cardiff Council’s Bessemer Close waste site, accepted bribes from Warren Roberts of A&T Waste Management to misrepresent waste type or amount, resulting in £417,000 losses to the council. Text messages with Roberts. Part of investigation starting 2017 after whistleblower. Cash seized from home.

Corey Goldup, 28, of Heol y Llwynau, Trebanos, used specialist software on his phone to covertly record video chats and communications on Snapchat, Kik, and Instagram with young females without their knowledge. Police identified five victims, including a female in Ireland and a girl in her mid-teens performing sex acts on herself. He was a member of a Discord group chat entitled “12 and under jailbait” sharing child abuse images. Officers recovered 980 Category A indecent pictures and videos (most serious, including rape), 160 Category B, 1,911 Category C, and 39 images of bestiality and extreme pornography. He continued downloading child sexual abuse images while on bail after initial arrest in June 2022.

Michael Campfield urinated on a mosque door, entered the building, threatened to kill an elderly man inside and threatened to burn the place down after becoming angry when asked to remove his shoes.

Michael Fox created an online chat group and used the names 'Foxy' and 'Wolf' to distribute videos depicting the rape of young girls. The material was classified as Category A, the most serious category of child sexual abuse material. An undercover police officer infiltrated the Telegram group, and when officers arrived to arrest him he said he had been an idiot. He later stated he had a high libido and would masturbate at least 15 times a day.

Michael James Matthews, of Clos Crucywel, Cwmrhydyceirw, Swansea, repeatedly harassed his neighbour despite a restraining order imposed in July 2025. Incidents in 2025 included damaging the victim's car with a dumbbell, leading to a suspended sentence and two-year restraining order. Breaches continued with verbal abuse and obscene gestures into the victim's video doorbell. Arrested on 16 April after threats to kill. The victim described the harassment as 'death by a thousand cuts' and had moved in with parents or worked overseas to escape.

Nicholas Page, 75, of Ropewalk Road, Llanelli, was caught when a care worker from Carmarthenshire Council reported him after he showed an image of a female on his phone and disclosed discussions about sexual encounters with girls 'as young as 14'. A search of his mobile phone revealed text conversations where Page actively tried to obtain indecent images of children as young as eight, and arranged sexual encounters with young girls by offering payment. In one exchange, a plan was made for a girl to be brought to his home at 2pm the next day. When no one arrived, Page sent angry messages demanding to know where the girl was. He expressed a preference for 13-year-old virgins, also stating interest in girls '10 or younger'. Page failed to attend multiple sentencing hearings, was arrested on a warrant, and remanded in custody. The defence cited his difficult childhood in care. The judge accepted he may have been conned by the other party.