SOLDIER’S KILLER ‘HAS BROUGHT CLUB INTO DISREPUTE’
THE former owner of the boxing club where a convicted murderer used to train said he has brought the sport into “disrepute”. Jake Vallely, 24, was this week found guilty of the murder of Private Matthew Boyd.
Pte Boyd, 20, from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, died in the early hours of Sunday, May 8, following a fight in Brecon town centre.
Andrew Griffiths, former head coach and owner of Brecon Amateur Boxing Club where Vallely trained, said: “What he’s done has brought the club and boxing into disrepute. I am upsetp et and disgusted.”disgusted.
Vallely, from Pen-Y-Bryn in Brecon, was a member of the club, which has since closed, and competed in the middleweight category for boxers weighing between 69kg and 75kg.
His coach David Gilbert had told the trial at Cardiff Crown Court that he was rated as one of the top 10 middleweight amateurs in Wales.
During his evidence to the court, Vallely described how he had attend- ed talks on the responsibilities of being a boxer, including the fact that fists were capable of causing what prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC described as “very great damage”.
Mr Griffiths said the club had also had many success stories. rent Marine Ethan Derrick, who won
“We have lads off the streets who gold and silver at the Pirkka Cup in have been great successes, just after Finland in 2011. instilling a bit of physical discipline,” Vallely was born in Aldershot, he said. Hampshire, but moved to Brecon
Mr Griffiths added: “The club actuwhen he was young after the death of ally started in a field in Brecon before his father. the council gave us premises to train. He worked as a framer in the I used to bring the pads out there.” town’s Ardent Gallery and away from
Success stories from the boxing his day job played football for Brecon club included Ben Sharman man and curcur Town FC, which he said he did “to fit in”. O n the night of the killing, Vallely described himself as “the hardest man in Brecon”.
Witness Kelly Price told the court how an “aggressive” Vallely called her a “heifer” in the Rorke’s Drift pub and told her: “I’ve raped worse than you. I’ll rape you. I’m the hardest m man in Brecon.”
Other witnesses said that Vallely was being “obnoxious” and “attention-seeking” that night while P Pte Boyd was “calm and friendly”.
Vallely was caught on CCTV from Brecon Guildhall punching Pte Boyd at around 12.50am and prosecutors d described his right arm as being “like a piston” going up and down delivering blows.
In a statement after Vallely’s conviction on Wednesday, Pte Boyd’s family said: “Jake Vallely has created a void in our family that will never b be filled.
“He has taken our son, brother, gr grandson and friend with no reason or excuse. This unbearable pain is something we will have to live with for the rest of our lives.”
They added: “During this trial it has been mentioned that Jake Vallely called himself the ‘hardest man in Brecon’ on the night that he murdered Matthew.
“He couldn’t wrong.
“There has been such a massive outpouring of love from the community in Brecon towards our family – in our mind those are the strongest people in Brecon, those who reject mindless violence and instead show compassion, love and respect for others.” have been more