A man was left with his nose "splattered all over his face" after being kicked and stamped on when he complained about noise from his neighbours. The brutal assault was seen by a friend of the victim who was out walking his dog – but the dog walker found himself being arrested and spending a day in the cells after false statements were given to the police naming him as the one who carried out the attack.
Swansea Crown Court heard that on December 14, 2021, the victim of the assault knocked on the door of the upstairs flat in Three Meadows in Haverfordwest to ask those inside to keep the noise down. The tenant of the upstairs flat, Dion Morgan, came out of the flat followed by her partner Jedd Hitchings and a number of other people. Hitchings and his friend Gareth Roberts then attacked the neighbour – knocking him to the floor and kicking and stamping on his head "with some force" as he lay on the ground.
The court heard that at this point a friend of the victim walked up the street with his dog and saw people scuffling outside the flats. As he got closer he saw his friend being attacked and he described the victim's nose as being "splattered all over his face" like he had been "hit with a cricket bat". Hitching then turned his attention to the dog walker, punching him in the head before the bystander escaped.
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The court heard the disturbance attracted the attention of a neighbour living in the street and when he went out to see what was going on he saw an injured man laying on the ground being tended to by a female – now known to be Shannon Thomson – who was trying to stem the bleeding with a towel. Roberts told the witness to "f***** go back in your house" but that the witness "argued back in pretty blunt terms".
The court heard police soon arrived on the scene and an ambulance was requested for the injured man but due to the long wait for an available emergency vehicle the casualty was driven to Withybush Hospital suffering with a broken nose, lacerations to the head and face, and a wound on his upper lip. Meanwhile back in Three Meadows Hitchings, Morgan, and Thomson all blamed the innocent dog walker for the assault and acting on that information officers went to his house and arrested him. The lying trio followed up their initial naming of the dog walker at the scene by giving false statements to the police. The court heard that as a result of the lies the dog walker spent 22 hours in custody before being released under investigation and it wasn't until the neighbour who had gone out into the street came forward with the true version of events that his involvement was fully discounted.
In an impact statement which was read to the court the man who was assaulted said all he had done was knock on the door of Morgan's flat to politely ask to keep the noise down when he had been assaulted. He said the attack had left him with a permanent deformity and nerve damage to his lip and he said his life would never be the same again. In his statement the man who was wrongly accused of assaulting his friend said as a result of lies told by the defendants he had spent a night in the police cells and, not knowing if he was going to be charged, he had worried that he would not be able to go to his daughter's wedding which was just a few days later.
Jedd Hitchings, aged 25, of no fixed abode but formerly of Meadow Walk, Haverfordwest, and Gareth Roberts, aged 32, also of no fixed abode, had both previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding when they appeared in the dock for sentencing. Dion Morgan, 24, of Three Meadows, Haverfordwest, and 21-year-old Shannon Thomson, of Goshawk Road, Haverfordwest, had both previously pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice as had Hitchings. Thomson's plea was entered on the basis that she lied to police out of fear of Morgan who had previously assaulted her with that basis not challenged by the prosecution.
Hitchings has 15 previous convictions for 33 offences including two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, and public order matters. In March last year he was sentenced to 12 months in prison after punching his girlfriend in the face during an argument. Roberts has 12 previous convictions for 26 offences batteries, public order matters, harassment, intention strangulation, and administering a poison or noxious substance. Morgan has offences of theft and shoplifting on her record while Thomson has no previous convictions.
Dan Griffiths, for Hitchings, said it was accepted that the victim of the assault had made a number of complaints in the past about the noise coming from Morgan's flat and that the relationship was "less than neighbourly". He said the defendant understands that he has difficult managing his emotions and he said immaturity had also played its part in the incident. The advocate said while being held on remand in Swansea prison Hitchings had reflected on his life and was motivated to change his ways and is desperate to establish a relationship with his two-year-old son.
Hannah George, for Roberts, said while being held on remand her client had completed courses in mental health and coping mechanism and realises he "needs to think before he acts" while she said he had also been helping fellow inmates with their reading and writing. The barrister said a diagnosis of a serious health condition for Roberts' father weighed heavily upon him and he feared his father will not be around when he is released from the sentence he is facing.
Ashanti-Jade Walton, for Thompson, said her client had a "complex background" which had resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, and she said the defendant ended up "falling into a friendship group which was very different from her". She said away from that friendship group Thomson was a considerate, caring, and hardworking young woman.
With a 20% discount for their guilty pleas to unlawful wounding Hitchings and Roberts were both sentenced to 19 months in prison. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea to attempting to perverting the course of justice Hitchings was sentenced to eight months in prison to run consecutively with the assault sentence making his overall sentence one of 27 months in prison. The defendants will each serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
With a one-quarter discount for her plea to attempting to pervert the course of justice Thomson was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 12 months and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and 100 hours of unpaid work. The sentencing of Morgan was adjourned for a pre-sentence report.
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