CONSERVATIVE HOPEFUL ACCUSED OF MISLEADING VOTERS Teen murder accused questioned about ‘violence while on remand’
A TORY candidate is unrepentant after being accused of misleading voters about the strength of his party’s support in the constituency where he will be standing.
Dwyfor Meirionnydd is Plaid Cymru’s safest seat and the party holds comfortable majorities at both Westminster and Senedd level.
But Charlie Evans, who will be standing in the constituency for the Conservatives, has claimed on social media that he could win.
In a social media posting he contrasted the number of votes won by the victorious Plaid candidate at the then National Assembly election – 9,566 – with the number of votes cast for the Tory candidate in the 2019 General Election: 9,707.
According to Mr Evans, “a real contest is shaping up” in the seat.
Large numbers of Plaid supporters lambasted Mr Evans on Twitter, accusing him of misusing statistics and not comparing like with like.
One tweeted: “Or to put it another way, DET got 9,566 votes at the last Senedd election in 2016 (Cons got 3,160) and @ LSRPlaid got 14,447 votes in the 2019 GE (Cons got 9,707). You wouldn’t be into the ‘misspoke’ thing and peddling fake information, would you Charlie?”
But Mr Evans said he was making a point about turnout.
“I think there’s strong residual support for the Conservatives in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and if all the people who are prepared to vote for us in the General Election voted for me in the Senedd election, I would have a chance of winning. Dafydd Elis-Thomas [who has represented the seat since the start of devolution] is standing down and the pro-independence vote will be split between Plaid and two other parties.”
A TEENAGER on trial accused of murdering an alleged rival drug dealer was involved in violent incidents in custody while on remand, a court has heard.
The male youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is one of seven people standing trial accused of the alleged murder of Harry Baker.
The 17-year-old is accused of being part of an “armed and deadly gang” who prosecutors alleged murdered the Cardiff teenager.
Mr Baker’s body was found in Barry Intermodal Terminal on August 28, 2019, bloodied and covered in stab wounds.
Leon Clifford, 23, Raymond Thompson, 48, Lewis Evans, 62, Peter McCarthy, 37, and Ryan Palmer, 34, who are all from Barry, as well as Leon Symons, 22, from Ely, in Cardiff, and the 17-year-old from Cardiff all deny murder and are on trial at Newport Crown Court.
Earlier in the trial, the youth claimed he felt “threatened and intimidated” into striking up a drug-dealing partnership with Symons and said he was given instructions to chase Harry Baker,
or he and his family would face violent consequences from Symons.
Yesterday, Symons’ barrister, Jonathan Rees QC, asked about the youth’s claim he was told to chase Harry Baker and his associate, Louis Johnson, by his client.
He said: “You didn’t say that because you weren’t told to chase him, were you?”
The youth said: “Everyone was standing together on the landing. I’m in the dock with people and they’re going to ask for a name so at that stage I wasn’t prepared until recently when I thought I’m not defending (Symons).”
Mr Rees said: “You did say something about Leon Symons. You said he and Clifford admitted to stabbing the boy in the car.”
The youth said: “I had to say something. I was trying to limit things I blamed on people as much as I could towards Symons but I obviously had to say something about him.”
Mr Rees said: “There was no conversation in the car where he admitted stabbing that boy. You made that up.”
The youth said: “No.”
The barrister also referred to incidents involving the youth while on remand in a young offenders’ institution following his arrest in September 2019.
Mr Rees said: “(In 2019) (while in custody) do you remember attacking another boy who was sat in the dining area at a table?
“You ran at him and a member of staff saw you run at him, grab him, start hitting him, pushed him on the floor and started kicking him. You pursued him.”
The youth said: “I had just been arrested and I was fresh meat. I was wearing a grey tracksuit and didn’t have nice clothes and the kid said to me ‘Your mum don’t care about you’ and I walked to the kitchen and hit him.”
The trial, before Mr Justice Picken, continues.