Behindtheheadlines BEHIND
John Guess and Dean Roberts The former Welsh Government lawyer and a former police officer carried out horrific sex attacks on “a number of very young children”. Police said their investigation into the two men “uncovered extremely disturbing child abuse evidence”. Gang jailed for attack on student Five thugs who took part in a street brawl which left a student fighting for his life in hospital joked and smirked in the dock as they were jailed in August. Ifan Owens spent a month in a “touch and go” coma after being set upon in Aberystwyth town centre. The men were Billy Michael Valentine, Andrew Raymond John Scott, Lee Andersen-Warnes, Michael Jones and David Robert Lloyd. Abigail Hanford The bogus carer left her vulnerable 94-year-old victim in the bathroom as she rummaged around her house, helping herself to cash and bank cards, then leaving quickly before the real carer arrived.
Great-grandmother Joanne Davies was left in the shower while Hanford carried out her crime. Benjamin Thomas The 21-year-old was jailed for 10 months after driving 130mph in a police chase on the M4 in his grandmother’s stolen car. He took the Vauxhall Mokka from the home he shares with his grandparents in Caerau, near Maesteg, before driving at excessive speeds for several miles in a bid to lose police cars. Justin Lewis and Sam Price The pair were jailed for deliberately starting a fire in Newport city centre. The court heard they broke into the building in Upper Dock Street in the early hours of August 24, 2017, and returned to the building shortly afterwards and started a fire in the floors above a Lifestyle Express store and VapourZest shop. Amanda Lewis Lewis from Carmarthen was sentenced to eight years for attacking her housemate in a “sadistic” assault. The court heard she beat her housemate with a rolling pin and slashed him with a bread knife before tying him up and bundling him into a cupboard in a 16-hour ordeal. James O’Driscoll Dad-of-two O’Driscoll plunged a “Rambo” style hunting knife into a man’s chest during an argument about a drugs debt. The victim needed emergency surgery after suffering life-threatening injuries that have caused permanent scarring. Conner Jones The stalker armed himself with a pistol, got dressed in military uniform, and hunted for his victim at the university where she was studying. Jones told staff at Aberystwyth University he was with the Royal Military Police, and was searching for a soldier who was absent without leave from his regiment. Daniel Beveridge The young girl violated by Beveridge bravely went through the ordeal of a trial to see him sent to jail. He was found guilty of 10 counts of sex abuse on a girl under the age of 13 and was given an extended sentence of 16 years. Paul Kemp Kemp was jailed after being caught with more than a kilogram of cannabis with a potential street value of up to £18,000 at his home in Newport. Growing equipment was found in the property, including high-power heat lamps, fans and a humidifier, along with more than £6,000 in cash. Jamie Simmonds The burglar was caught when his DNA was found on a block of cheese. He had targeted the house of his exgirlfriend’s mother but left behind a trail of cheese crumbs after eating the Red Leicester he found in the fridge. Michael Green The 27-year-old was jailed for 16 months after giving his former partner a black eye and split lip in an attack at her home in Bargoed. He had accused her of cheating on him on a night out. Joseph Wilson The sex attacker followed a university student for several minutes before sexually assaulting her twice in a Cardiff street. He then told her it was “just a joke”. The judge didn’t find it funny, and said a “serious sexual assault” warranted an immediate custodial sentence. Paul Davies Davies was a member of staff at a large comprehensive school when he was arrested for wanting sex with 13-year-old girls and having a video on his phone of a child as young as five being raped. The lab technician was also a youth volunteer with St John Ambulance and was caught in a “sting” operation run by members of an online group called Welsh Children Protectors. Tyrone Birkett Birkett was caught on CCTV stealing an iPad from a fellow resident at a Cardiff homeless centre. The judge told him that residents should “be looking out for each other”. Arron Dutton Jailed for demanding money while holding a four-inch knife to the throat of his victim in a Cardiff park. He pulled the blade out of his hoodie pocket and pointed it at his victim’s neck, instructing him to hand over either his mobile phone or his bike. Mohammad Abedean The respected member of Swansea’s Muslim community carried out a sustained and systematic campaign of sexual abuse against two young girls. Swansea Crown Court heard that Abedean drove one of his victims to self-harm and left her feeling “like damaged goods”.
Chantelle Gribble Francesca Ouaaziz
The pair “lunged” at a woman before punching her repeatedly in the face, leaving her battered and bruised following an argument about a purse. They punched the woman so her contact lenses came out of her eyes and she could not see anything during the sustained and two-on-one assault. Jonathan Jennings White supremacist Jennings was jailed over messages he posted on the American-based social networking site GAB, which styles itself as a “free speech” platform. The posts warned Jews they would “get the same treatment as Muslims” and called for prominent EU remain campaigner Gina Miller to be hunted down and killed, as well as boasting he would be first in line to “Jo Cox” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Andrew Bishop He was jailed in his absence after failing to turn up to court for sentencing after he “degraded and humiliated” a woman by grabbing her crotch in a busy Cardiff pub. The 35-year-old carried out the sexual assault at the The Borough pub in the city centre in January as his victim was walking to the toilets. Ryan Greening The self-confessed “stupid idiot” led the police on a 13-mile car chase at speeds of up to 110mph through Cardiff city centre. The 24-year-old even sped past Cardiff Bay police station at 70mph in what was a 30mph zone.