Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Cathy Owen

Locked Up: The criminals justice caught up with in February and what happened to them

Here are the faces and crimes of the people locked up in Wales over the last month.

They include a drug driver who killed mother-of-four Danielle Andrews when his car crashed through barriers and down tree-lined bank at a busy M4 junction, a rapist whose victim thought she was going to die, and a mother who joined her son in dealing drugs.

Andrew Vowles

(MEDIA WALES)

A mother-of-four was killed when the drug driver smashed his car through metal barriers at the side of a road, causing the car to spin through the air and hit trees as it fell down a seven metre bank side.

Danielle Andrews was the front seat passenger in a VW Golf being driven by Vowles when the then 33-year-old ignored a red light as he drove up a slip lane on the A470 at the Coryton interchange in the early hours of November 28, 2020.

David Turner

David Turner, 41, of Cardiff, lay in wait in his victim's home and when she returned he hit her to the face and strangled her (South Wales Police)

The rapist's victim thought she was going to die when he broke into her home and lay in wait before fracturing her cheekbone and strangling her.

Turner, 41, from Cardiff, carried out a "forceful and premeditated" assault on his victim, who he also raped while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, causing her pain and humiliation.

The victim sustained injuries to her face after Turner hit her and strangled her after entering her home through a window and waiting until she returned to her house.

Avril and Ryan Niner

Avril Niner (left) and son Ryan Niner (South Wales Police)

The mother joined her son in dealing cocaine after "hard men" came knocking on their door demanding payments of debts he had run up through his addiction.

Ryan had become addicted to the Class A drug while in prison, and upon his release his use of coke spiralled along with his debts. He began dealing cocaine to pay off what he owed, an enterprise his mother joined him in - and together the pair dealt coke for some 16 months before the police caught up with them

Gregory Gair

Gregory Gair, 36, from Newport, made threats to kill a woman he went on one date with (Gwent Police)

The obsessive man threatened to a kill a woman he went out on one date with and told her he was going to "rip her heart out".

Gair, 36, of Newport, harassed his victim by sending incessant messages over the course of a year and attempted to disguise his voice with a Northern Irish accent while threatening to rip her heart out.

The fantasist even posted on his Facebook account that he and the woman, who only met for one date, were in a relationship and when she blocked him and refused to answer his calls he threatened to kill himself, telling her "my life is in your hands".

Alexander Hill, Kieran Hill, Shaun Wood

Left to right: Alexander Hill, Kieran Hill, Shaun Wood (South Wales Police)

The three thugs who effectively held a vulnerable man captive in a flat and subjected him to a brutal beating found his ordeal "amusing".

The victim was repeatedly punched and kicked - suffering a broken jaw and a broken eye socket - because he had sent the girlfriend of one of his attackers a series of flirtatious messages. He was then bullied and threatened into blaming an innocent man for the assault. Read their sentence here.

Tyler Richards

Tyler Richards (South Wales Police)

The prisoner threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and "put a bullet" in the head of her "new man".

Richards, who is serving an eight-year jail term for wounding, made four vile calls from HM Prison Parc in Bridgend. He told the mother of his children he would "beat the life" out of her.

Jay Parry

Jay Parry (South Wales Police)

He picked up a coffee cup and smashed into his victim's face after being told to stop arguing with his girlfriend.

The victim has been left with a misshapen nose, and now faces the prospect of having surgery to break the bone and reset it.

Swansea Crown Court heard Parry has a long history of offending - including convictions for 17 burglaries - and has recently completed an anger management course while in prison.

David Nicholls

David Nicholls - custody picture (South Wales Police)

His former partner needed stitches after he threw a can at her face.

Nicholls, 29, breached a restraining order for the fourth time when he attacked his ex on December 23 last year as she walked home from a shop in Cardiff.

The woman had heard someone shouting 50 metres behind her. She turned to see Nicholls "berating" her and "mumbling incoherently", prosecutor Peter Donnison told Cardiff Crown Court.

Cory Slade

Cory Slade, 29, from Newport, assaulted police officers while being arrested for posting intimate photos of a woman on social media (Gwent Police)

The thug spat at police officers as they arrested him for posting intimate photos of a naked woman on social media.

Slade, 29, made his victim feel "digusted and degraded" by the photos which were posted on the defendant's Snapchat and What'sApp accounts.

Crime figures for your area here.

Bashir Ali

Bashir Ali (South Wales Police)

The Londoner caught red-handed in Swansea with deals of crack cocaine and hundreds of pounds hidden in his trousers claimed he was in the Welsh city for a holiday.

Plain clothes police officers conducting undercover anti-drugs patrols swooped on the 21-year-old as he left a block of flats on a residential street.

While Ali said he was merely enjoying a break in the seaside city, an examination of his phone showed there had been more than 300 calls to and from a so-called county lines drug gang number in the days before his arrest.

Lee Jones and Connor Williams

Lee Jones (left) and Connor Williams (South Wales Police)

The two drunk thugs launched a vicious and unprovoked assault on an off-duty policeman and his son outside a taxi office.

Jones and Williams repeatedly punched and kicked their victims to the head and body even as the men lay defenceless on the ground.

Sending the pair down, a judge described the late-night events as "gratuitous violence".

Thomas Godfrey

Godfrey rained punches on one woman and sexually assaulted another during an attack at a hotel.

He struck his first victim in the face 15 to 20 times before entering the second woman's hotel room, getting in her bed, stroking the top of her thigh and performing a sex act.

Prosecutor Lowri Wynn Morgan said the sexual assault victim had eaten a Chinese takeaway before going to bed in her hotel room where there was some leftover food. The door was closed but unlocked.

Rhys Stone

Rhys Stone subjected his victim to a terrifying attack hours after meeting her online (South Wales Police)

He locked a teenage girl in a car before c arrying out a terrifying sexual attack just hours after meeting her online.

The 21-year-old first began chatting with his victim via a live-streaming app and came across to the girl and her friends as "pleasant" and offered to take them to out in his car.

However, the girl had no idea that Stone was a convicted sex offender - and hours later would be subjected to a terrifying ordeal.

Aaron Diplock

Aaron Diplock (South Wales Police)

The dealer was introduced to cocaine by friends after he was forced out of the Army through injury and advertised his wares on Snapchat.

When Diplock's home was searched officers found £7,000-worth of high-purity cocaine hidden in his cooker. Police also found messages on his phone where he discussed preparing the drug for sale and a Snapchat story where he promoted the product.

Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones (South Wales Police)

Car thieves driving around Swansea in a stolen car passed an Amazon van and stopped to steal it, a court heard.

Earlier that afternoon Jones and his unidentified accomplice had stolen the car they were in from a mum and her children while they were in a supermarket.

When the pair spotted a delivery van parked at the side the road they decided to stop steal it – but hadn’t accounted for the delivery driver being a former soldier.

Nathan Price and Nathan Price

Nathan Price senior, left, and his son, Nathan Price, right (South Wales Police)

The father and son targeted a vulnerable old aged pensioner - driving her to a bank to withdraw money for a garden job at her home which wasn't required.

Nathan Price and his son, also called Nathan Price, preyed on 87-year-old Linda Broad as she lived alone at her flat in Swansea. Price senior appeared in her garden, telling her that a tree in her garden needed to be felled, falsely claiming that Swansea Council was going to pay for the majority of the work, but she would have to pay the balance - £1,600.

Simon Dove

Simon Dove (South Wales Police)

The paedophile who went on the run to the Costa del Sol and was tracked down to a Spanish prison was given an extended sentence as a dangerous sex offender.

After being brought back to Wales, Dove was given a suspended sentence and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order designed to control his online behaviour - but just weeks later he bought a laptop and started downloading images of child sex abuse, and installing software designed to hide his activities.

Ryan Owen

Ryan Owen (South Wales Police)

The teenager punched a woman in the face at a party and broke her jaw in an unprovoked attack that left her needing an operation.

Owen's victim had given him a lift to the house party in her car but he later lashed out at her in an unprovoked assault. The woman needed surgery to fit a metal plate and screws to her jaw to repair the damage and missed her son's birthday because she was in hospital.

Lucien Marshall

(Gwent Police)

The teenager robbed a taxi driver after being picked up from an all-night party which breached coronavirus restrictions.

Marshall, 19, was in a taxi along with Joshua Saunders, 22, at around 6.30am on the morning of April 11, 2021. The driver picked them both up from Cromwell Road in Newport after they had attended a gathering.

Damien Davies

Damien Davies (South Wales Police)

The man with a long history of beating and abusing partners subjected his girlfriend to a "horrendous ordeal" in her own home.

Davies throttled and beat the woman before throwing her to the floor and forcing her face into the doormat with his foot.

He has eight previous convictions for offences relating to partners or former partners including numerous assaults, false imprisonment, and disclosing private sexual photographs. A judge said he had no doubt Davies was a dangerous offender, and if he had the power to do so he would make him subject of an extended sentence.

Jamie Smith

Jamie Smith (South Wales Police)

He used an old taxi to drive around the streets of Swansea selling cocaine.

Smith purchased the vehicle, which was still emblazoned with stickers of a well-known city cab service, and dealt the class A drug to street users.

Joshua Jones

Joshua Jones, 28 (Gwent Police)

A man was stabbed with a machete in the middle of a busy town centre in a vicious attack which left him needing surgery and stitches.

Jones' victim Luke Phillips was out shopping with his family in Cwmbran last year when he was slashed in the leg with a large knife in front of several onlookers, sustaining blood loss and injuries which required surgery and stitches.

Liam Pattison

Liam Pattison (South Wales Police)

He covered his face with his hands as he was jailed for defrauding a company involved in TV series Brave New World.

Pattison, 34, only did a week of work for 4Wood TV and Film — which built film sets in south Wales – but for the next seven months he sent the business invoices for payments totalling £36,000.

4Wood, which worked on Sky's Brave New World show starring Demi Moore, was conned out of £33,120 before it realised the scam, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Alex Prosser

Alex Prosser (South Wales Police)

he raped a vulnerable 11-year-old girl in his flat afte r grooming her on the messaging app Snapchat.

When police arrested Prosser they found more than 1,200 films and pictures on his phone showing babies and children being sexually abused. A report into the defendant described him as the "epitome of a predator paedophile".

His barrister said the 34-year-old has a deep sense of shame for what he had done - "as he should".

Thomas Faulds

Thomas Faulds (South Wales Police)

The prisoner laughed as he slashed a fellow inmate and a prison officer across the face with homemade weapons leaving his victims with permanent scars.

Faulds, who may never be released, was awaiting sentence for his part in a drugs conspiracy when attacked his cellmate with a knife fashioned from a razor blade. He was then moved to a different Welsh jail where he carried out an identical assault on a prison officer.

Swansea Crown Court heard the 26-year-old laughed and sniggered during the bloody attacks, and has shown no remorse for his actions since. Imposing a life sentence on the defendant, a judge said he didn't know when - if ever - Faulds would no longer pose a danger, and could be released into the community.

Stephen Bale

Stephen Bale (South Wales Police)

Customers enjoying a family meal in a pub were subjected to racial abuse including monkey noises and calls to "go back to where you came from", a court has heard.

Aircraft engineer Bale then pulled a knife on the grandson of the family and threatened to kill him.

Sending the 36-year-old father-of-three to prison, a judge called his behaviour "disgusting and deplorable".

Paul Walsh

Paul Walsh (Dyfed-Powys Police)

When police raided the drug dealer's house they found he was keeping some of his stash in a camper van.

Officers found some £8,000 worth of cannabis at a number of locations inside - and outside - the property, along with cannabis plants, and quantities of cocaine and amphetamine.

Sending the 48-year-old year to prison, a judge described the man standing before her in the dock as "somewhat of a broken individual".

Jayden Heron

Jayden Heron, 23, was found in possession of heroin and crack cocaine at a house in St Mellons, Cardiff (South Wales Police)

The drug dealer found in possession of heroin and crack cocaine tried to prevent police from finding his phone by hiding it in his bed and laying on top of it.

A raid was carried out at a house in Cardiff on May 12 last year where Heron and Trivelle Taylor were storing class A drugs they were planning to sell to users.

Michael Casey

Already in prison for his part in a £500,000 burglary spree, and was found in his cell with cannabis and an iPhone just one day after he was transferred from another jail.

The 21-year-old was jailed last year after more than two years on the run from police.

He had been wanted for being part of a family-based organised crime group that carried out a string of break-ins across Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot in 2018 that saw half-a-million pounds worth of gold and other jewellery stolen from homes. Read more here.

Michael Turner

Turner has 78 previous offences (South Wales Police)

He broke into a couple's home and stole handbags and purses before using the stolen money to buy drugs.

The 51-year-old, broke into a house in Bridgend on January 2 this year, while the occupants were upstairs.

It was only when the couple came downstairs around half an hour later that they realised somebody had broken into their home and stolen their possessions - which also included passports and house keys

Elton Hazizi

Elton Hazizi - custody picture (Dwyfed-Powys Police)

A crime gang turned a quiet and unsuspecting semi-detatched home into a huge cannabis factory - with the bumper crop worth more than other houses on the street.

Officers raided a house in Highmead Avenue, Llanelli, on December 13 last year and found 25-year-old Hazizi inside— along with 249 "mature, high-quality" plants worth around £232,400.

Hazizi, who is originally from Albania, told officers he had been forced to work in the cannabis farm. Police linked him to an organised crime group involved in the growth and supply of the Class B drug.

Stavro Nace

Stavro Nace was the gardener of the huge cannabis farm in Taffs Well (South Wales Police)

He left his home country for a better life but ended up working in a cannabis factory and will be deported once he has served a prison sentence.

Nace left Albania in the hope of finding a good job to support his struggling parents - but ended up in huge debt after forking out almost £22,000 to get to the UK.

He was found inside a house in south Wales alongside a massive crop of cannabis thought to be worth an eye-watering six figure sum

Jason Maddocks

Jason Maddocks (South Wales Police)

The former soldier left traumatised by his experiences in war zones turned to drug dealing to fund his own spiralling habit.

Maddocks was involved in supplying cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis on the streets of Swansea, with some of his stash being kept in a Pringles crisp tube fitted with a false bottom.

Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant had served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq during which he was stabbed while fighting at close-quarters, as well as being shot. A judge said it was "shameful" that the psychological and physical welfare of people who serve their country is not properly looked after when they are discharged.

To get the latest email updates from WalesOnline straight to your inbox click here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.