A man was found lying drunk in the middle of a road two days after being released from prison homeless. Anthony Richards threatened police officers at the scene in Caerphilly before being recalled to jail. The 32-year-old said he had been "let down" after "nothing was arranged" to support him on his release. Richards told Newport Magistrates' Court that he had been released with "nothing but a sleeping bag" the previous Friday. He was out of prison on licence after being jailed last November for assaulting a police officer and drunk and disorderly behaviour.
Prosecutor David Thomas said Richards was seen lying in the middle of Ffordd Newydd, Penyrheol, at 7.16pm on Sunday. He was blocking traffic and appeared unable to get up. By the time three police officers attended Richards was standing up but still "very intoxicated". As Mr Thomas said this Richards interjected: "That's not actually true." District judge Sophie Toms warned Richards not to interrupt again. The prosecutor added that Richards had told one of the officers: "I'm going to punch your face in." He swore and threatened to "slice up" the officers which resulted in him being pinned to the ground. The officers found "a small amount of cannabis" and what they thought was amphetamine.
Richards pleaded guilty to drunk and disorderly behaviour as well as cannabis possession but the amphetamine charge was dropped. He told the court he had only carried a "minute" amount of cannabis. His solicitor Vaughan Britton said: "He was released from prison on Friday and he thought arrangements would be made by the probation service for him to have some kind of emergency accommodation. He feels let down. Nothing was arranged for him and that meant sleeping rough in a sleeping bag. He accepts he was drinking but he does recall the incident somewhat differently and he has visible injuries arising out of the arrest."
Richards was recalled to jail for breaching the terms of his licence by being drunk and disorderly. He is set to be behind bars until May as he serves the sentence for his previous offences. For the offences last weekend he was fined £100 and told to pay a £40 victim services surcharge. Before he was escorted from the dock Richards said he feared for his safety in HMP Cardiff, adding: "I've got a lot of people after me in Cardiff prison... When I was in Bristol I was fine." Judge Toms said she had no power to do anything about this but advised him to speak to Mr Britton who is "very experienced in prison law".
WalesOnline put Richards' complaint of a lack of support on his release to the Ministry of Justice. A spokeswoman said: "We know that prisoners released on a Friday are more likely to face challenges in accessing vital services such as housing and healthcare. That’s why we are supporting a change in legislation to end Friday releases and ensure offenders can access the support they need ahead of the weekend. We are also providing more temporary accommodation to offenders at risk of becoming homeless to stop them reoffending and keep the public safe." The UK Government's Prisons Strategy white paper makes a commitment to giving prison leavers "a stable base on release, improving their opportunities for employment, and helping the economy to grow". You can read more of the latest Welsh court news here.
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