‘It matters not who wielded the knife’
Here, Emma Rose, co-founder and director of Unchecked UK, an organisation which exists to make the case for strong protections across public life, argues the case for the strengthening of public standards
APROSECUTOR has recounted the “ferocious” attack which ended a teenager’s life as the trial of seven defendants accused of the boy’s murder draws nearer to its conclusion.
The alleged members of an “armed and deadly gang” are accused of killing Cardiff teenager Harry Baker who was found in Barry Intermodal Terminal on August 28, 2019.
The 17-year-old was bloodied, stripped, and covered in stab wounds.
Leon Clifford, 23, Peter McCarthy, 37, and Ryan Palmer, 34, Lewis Evans 62, and Raymond Thompson, 48, who are all from Barry, as well as Leon Symons, 22, from Ely, in Cardiff, and a 17-year-old from Cardiff who cannot be named for legal reasons all deny murder and are on trial at Newport Crown Court. All of the defendants except Clifford and
Evans are also charged with violent disorder, which they deny, while Evans alone faces a charge of assisting an offender, which he denies.
Yesterday prosecutor Paul Lewis QC made his closing speech to the jury.
He said it was the prosecution’s case that all defendants are guilty of murder “and it matters not who wielded the knife”.
Mr Lewis told the jury: “What is plain is the attack on Harry was ferocious.
“The pathologist found Harry suffered nine wounds caused by sharp objects.
“There were slash wounds and stab wounds.”
He pointed to an “undisputed” and “chilling fact” as he referred to the evidence of pathologist Dr Deryk James about the injuries suffered by Mr Baker.
“None of the injuries were inevitably fatal,” said Mr Lewis. “Had medical assistance been called it’s possible but by no means certain Harry
Baker would have survived.
“We know despite the defendants having mobile phones with them no attempt was made by anyone to summon help for the stricken Harry Baker. That fact may assist you in considering whether the defendants intended for Harry Baker to die that night.
“Perhaps an even more chilling feature was the undisputed fact Harry Baker did not die quickly.”
The trial, before Mr Justice Picken, continues.
ARAPIST has been locked up four decades after he repeatedly sexually abused a young girl.
David Stanley, now 58, was a teenager when he subjected his victim to a catalogue of sickening rapes which lasted for years.
When the distressed child said she would tell adults about what he was doing to her, David John Stanley bullied and intimidated her into silence by holding her by her ankles over a drop and threatening to let go.
In an impact statement read to Cardiff Crown Court by the victim she told her attacker sat in the dock that he had damaged her more than he would ever know and left her with “a life filled with pain and selfloathing”. Stanley, from Barry, had previously been convicted at trial of nine counts of rape of a child under 16 when he appeared for sentencing yesterday.
The court heard that for a period of several years during the late 1970s Stanley had repeatedly raped the young girl.
The attacks, which began when he was aged 14, were not reported at the time with the defendant ensuring his victim’s silence by threatening her.
The victim, who is now in her 40s, read a statement to the court in which she detailed the effects the abuse has had on her.
She said she had been very young when the abuse started and had felt scared and vulnerable.
She told her abuser he had subjected her to things no young child should have to endure.
The woman said she had blamed herself for what was happening and later turned to drugs to “dampen the pain” of what she went through though she said she is now thankfully free from substance misuse.
She added: “The abuse I suffered at your hands never really ended.”
Stanley, of Court Road, Barry, was convicted of nine specimen counts of rape at trial in November last year.
Kevin Seal, for Stanley, said the defendant “accepts the verdict of the jury but does not agree with it”.
He asked the judge to take into account Stanley’s age at the time of the offending and his lack of relevant previous convictions.
Recorder Duncan Bould told the defendant he was guilty of “brutal sexual abuse” which had “destroyed” his victim’s childhood and had a lasting and significant impact on her.
He said no sentence a court could impose could ever recompense the victim for what she had been through.
The recorder added: “You have shown no remorse. You have only shown interest in yourself during the course of the trial.”
Recorder Bould said in coming to his sentence he had to consider the defendant’s age at the time of the offending, changes in the law around sex offences since the 1970s, sentencing guidelines, the contents of a pre-sentence report, and the principle of totality of sentence.
Stanley was sentenced to nine years in prison and must serve twothirds of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
He will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
South Wales Police do not hold a custody photograph of the defendant.
ACHARITY that operated Penarth Pier and its pavilion has surrendered its 125-year lease to freeholder in the Vale of Glamorgan Council, which now takes on its running.
The pier, which opened in 1893 and underwent a £4m revamp completed in 2013 with National Lottery funding, had been operated under lease by Penarth Arts and Craft Ltd (PACL).
However, after a long period of financial uncertainty, which saw a number of PACL board member resigning, its remaining directors concluded that the impact of Covid meant it could no longer sustain the organisation’s mission to promote the pavilion for the community of Penarth and beyond.
One of the biggest tenants, Waterloo Tea Garden, vacated during the lockdown.
PACL, which had around 120 years left on the lease, said it held exploratory discussions with a number of interested parties to establish whether it was possible to find a commercial solution. However, it said the terms of the lease prevented negotiations from progressing.
PACL then sought talks with Vale of Glamorgan Council and National Lottery organisations to ensure the future use of the building was consistent with its charitable aim. As a condition of PACL surrendering the lease, the council has given an undertaking to secure the future of the pavilion as a community facility.
The council has accepted the requirement to honour all existing event bookings.
A spokesperson for PACL and Penarth Pier Pavilion (PPP) Ltd said: “This decision has been taken following a long period of challenging trading conditions.
“Whilst informal proposals were submitted to PACL for the commercial running of the pavilion they have proved incompatible with PACL’s charitable mission, the terms of the lease from the Vale of Glamorgan and the arrangements with the lottery bodies.
“As a consequence the remaining directors worked with the Vale of Glamorgan Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Community Fund to forge a solution that will allow the pavilion to continue to operate as a venue for the people of Penarth and the wider community.”
THE man heading an independent review into improving transport connections across the UK said he doesn’t recognise claims of significant underfunding in rail in Wales, but said a promised revaluation of how business cases for projects are evaluated by the Treasury could lead to far more investment.
Sir Peter Hendry has been tasked by the Prime Minister to look at how to improve transport connectivity across the nations of the union.
Giving evidence to a Welsh Select Committee investigation into rail investment Sir Peter was asked about the level of funding Wales has received. Swansea West Labour MP Geraint Davies said that over the few decades Wales has received less than 2% of UK Government funded rail enhancement investment, despite having 5% of the UK population, and 11% of its rail track.
Sir Peter said he was not convinced by the origins of the numbers.
“If you divide investment by track miles you get a very peculiar number,” Sir Peter said.
He cited the Heart of Wales line saying it is a very long piece of railway but only has five trains a day, adding’ “they’re short, and have many people on them.”
Sir Peter said his Union Connectivity Review will be looking at levelling the economies across the UK using methods that are more than just a business case but also whether connectivity will drive general economic growth in the future.
He said that in his final report he’ll be making the point that if you looked at investments on a wider economic basis, they will be more likely to get off the investment.
“If it’s believed that the connectivity will drive general economic growth, then actually looking into the future and using a better appraisal methodology to appraise people’s desired investment is very likely to produce more investment than has traditionally has been the case,” Sir peter said.
These new methods, Sir Peter said, will benefit more of the UK and assist in the levelling up and referencing the Chancellor’s recent comments on reviewing the Green Book and the appraisal methodology that has don’t been used to determine rail investment.
Sir Peter said: “This is really important because actually one of the reasons that transport investment has been largely concentrated in large conurbations in London and southeast England, is that if look at transport appraisal solely in the light of business cases, transporting lots of people earning quite a lot of money produces you a better business case and producing connectivity than in more sparsely populated parts of the country.
“I think it’s really important and you will find that the interim report says a bit about that. But my final report will have quite a lot to say about it because if you want to see investment in the levelling up agenda and in parts of Britain, like parts of Wales that that need economic stimulus, then you have to justify those budgets are the wider economic basis and not just on a narrow relatively short term BCR (benfit cost ratio) basis.”
Ken Skates, the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, told the committee that Wales is set to lose out on more than £2bn of investement over the next deacade, which will be exacerbated by the around £100bn that will go into HS2, which is an England rail project.
Mr Skates said: “When you consider all of the investment that’s going to be made in rail and restructure in England between 2001 and 2029, we calculated that the under investment in Wales amounts to about £2.4bn,” he said.
“This is directly related to the mentality, I believe, of Treasury and the lack of the ability of DfT alone to make decisions on rail infrastructure. And the lack of devolution, ultimately, is what determines or what has determined our lack of investment in Wales.
“Obviously we have the position of wishing to see the devolution of rail infrastructure and settlement to Wales so that we can utilise those systems that we already have Wales transport strategy, the Well Being of Future Generations Act, to make decisions in a different way that wouldn’t concentrate rail infrastructure spend in the most urbanised areas and we would be able to distribute investment more fairly across Wales.”
On HS2 Mr Skates says while there will be benefits to north Wales, overall it will damage Wales, in particular south Wales by bringing cities in the Midlands and the north of England closer to London.
“The net impact on the economy of Wales will be negative and quite considerably,” Mr Skates said.
“This is because it will leave south Wales at a disadvantage. And indeed, if we are to see the true benefits of HS2 realised for north Wales we’re going to have to see electrification of mainline and electrification between Crewe and Chester.
“That’s what will really deliver the step change in improvements in north Wales. So there’s a compelling case to invest more in south Wales and in north Wales, alongside what is being undertaken on HS2.”
Sir Peter said that while there is unlikely to be any further high speed rail networks after HS2 he wants to see north Wales benefit.
“I think one of the things I will probably be saying is HS2 has to benefit north Wales as much as it seeks to benefit Birmingham and Merseyside,” he said.
THE Welsh Government has long been clear in its view that sensible, properly-enforced regulations can deliver diverse social, environmental and economic benefits, and protect Welsh interests.
It has recognised the many advantages provided to UK citizens by EU law, and supported regulatory alignment with Europe and participation in important EU regulatory bodies.
This positioning is in stark contrast to the views of many within Westminster, for whom Brexit has always been seen as an opportunity to deregulate Britain.
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is the Welsh Government who are more in step with British public and business opinion.
Our own poll of younger Leave voters found strong support for regulations across many areas of public life, with most participants stating a preference for maintaining or increasing food safety, environmental, consumer protection and workplace rules and standards.
And our research, carried out last year with first-time Conservative voters in so-called ‘Red Wall’ constituencies, including Wrexham, finds that Welsh Leavers and Remainers alike support robust, well-enforced food standards.
Unchecked UK is shortly due to publish the findings of a Welsh-specific poll, carried out in early 2021 by YouGov, which strongly supports these findings.
However, as sensible and well supported as the Welsh Government’s position is, challenges remain. Firstly, the terms of the trade deal agreed on December 24, 2020, fall short of Welsh Government ambitions.
While the text contains a clause which commits the UK and EU to “not weaken or reduce” current levels of protection, this only applies if any reduction in protections affects trade or investment between both parties – an outcome which can be extremely hard to prove.
Given the current deregulatory momentum in Westminster, it seems likely that there will be some weakening of important protections (including environmental and workplace regulations) over time.
Clearly, outside of devolved policy areas, many of the levers for change lie with the UK Government. But even within areas of devolved competence, there remain opportunities for the Welsh Government to further accelerate the high standards agenda, and address the risks that could compromise the achievement of ambitious social and environmental goals for Wales.
Our new report, ‘Safeguarding standards in Wales: why Wales should lead the way’, published earlier this week, looks at environmental safeguards, employee protections, and public health and well-being standards, highlighting the ways in which these risk being undermined in Wales, and flagging the opportunities to ensure they are protected.
It outlines the ways in which the Welsh Government can further set itself apart from Westminster, using domestic policy levers to drive progress, and ensuring that ambitious policy goals are underpinned by specific targets and are carried out within acceptable timelines.
This could include action not just on devolved areas, but in areas such as employment. Whilst there is limited scope for the Welsh Government to affect legislative change to employment law, given that this falls within UK Government competency, there is scope to build on the use of domestic provisions – including by strengthening the Economic Contract to ensure it drives genuine improvements to how employees are treated, for example by requiring employers to pay the Living Wage for Wales.
Troublingly, our report also finds a huge ‘enforcement gap’ in Wales, with many regulators struggling to fulfil their statutory duties. The ‘enforcement gap’ is further exacerbated by a lack of availability of Wales-only data (Wales-related data published by UK-wide regulators is often extremely patchy), which makes it difficult to analyse trends over time, and ensure that regulation is being effectively enforced.
This is extremely problematic. Regulation without enforcement does not get us very far, and without the ability to measure compliance, it is impossible to measure progress against important social and environmental goals. The development of Wales-specific reporting would be a crucial first step in tackling this problem.
At Unchecked, we believe that common-sense regulations act like society’s immune system, keeping things ticking along smoothly, building resilience, supporting decent businesses and constraining damaging and harmful activities.
As Wales seeks to emerge from the Coronavirus pandemic, navigate the ongoing challenges of Brexit, and tackle the economic consequences of the past 12 months, we believe that sensible, properly-enforced regulations can and should be at the heart of the Welsh recovery.
In the run up to the Senedd elections, we are calling on Welsh politicians to commit not only to maintaining and strengthening public standards, but to advocating for them as part of a narrative approach which portrays regulation as an integral part of Wales’ future as a prosperous, thriving and fair economy and society.
As the evidence above shows, this is not just the right thing to do – it could also prove a crucial vote-winner come May.