David Braddon appeared before Cardiff Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for further offences committed while serving a life sentence. The 38-year-old admitted acquiring criminal property and possessing a mobile phone in prison.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Braddon to three years and seven months in prison, to be served consecutively to his existing life sentence, which has a minimum term of 20 years.
Murder at Trecco Bay caravan park
Braddon was jailed for life in 2015 for the murder of 18-year-old Conner Marshall. He beat Conner with a pole, kicked him in the face and ribs, and stripped him naked in an attempt to humiliate him, before striking him again and forcing his head to hit the concrete. The attack happened at Trecco Bay caravan park in Porthcawl in March 2015, in what was described as a "horrific case of mistaken identity".
Conner, from Barry, had been enjoying an evening with friends at a local amusement park and sports bar, and had left to walk along the beach to take photographs. He was mistaken for the ex-boyfriend of Braddon's estranged partner, who was also staying at the park. Braddon, from Caerphilly, realised he had got the wrong man when he used his phone light to see "a young boy". At the time, he was on probation for drugs offences and assaulting a police officer, and had previous convictions for domestic abuse.
The following morning, a holidaymaker was woken by a groaning sound and saw legs sticking out from beneath a caravan. Conner was found with severe head injuries and was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, where he died from catastrophic injuries including brain swelling.
Former prison officer investigated
The latest court case concerned charges of acquiring criminal property between March 2023 and March 2024, and possessing a mobile phone at HMP Parc on March 5 last year. Braddon, who appeared via videolink from prison in February 2026, pleaded guilty to both charges.
Prosecutor Tabitha Walker told Cardiff Crown Court that Claire Jones, 39, of Clydach Road in Tonypandy, had worked as a probationary prison officer at HMP Parc until she was dismissed in November 2022 after failing her probation period. In November 2023, messages from a Facebook account that appeared to be Jones's were sent to serving officer William Scott, asking him to attend a cell and speak to a prisoner in an apparent attempt to bring contraband into the prison. Scott refused and police launched an investigation. Jones was arrested in March 2024 and denied any wrongdoing.
Payments and mobile phone contacts
Officers found that Jones had received over £21,049 in a Monzo account, with the same amount withdrawn. Fifty-nine people had made transfers to and from the account, including people with links to 32 prisoners at four prisons. Braddon, his mother Karen Graham, and his former partner Gemma Phillips had all made payments to and from the account. Graham, 57, of Lansbury Park in Caerphilly, also received over £11,000 through a bank account between December 2022 and December 2023.
Jones had more than 7,000 contacts with a mobile phone number suspected of being used inside HMP Parc, which was later found in Braddon's cell. The number was also in contact with Phillips and Graham.
Victim's mother: 'Complete and utter terror'
In a personal statement read to the court, Conner's mother, Nadine Marshall, said she felt "complete and utter terror" when her niece told her that her son's killer was back in the news. She said she had flashbacks to seeing her son in a coma and would never get over his death.
"Seeing Braddon's face took me back to the time when the police knocked on my door about Conner," she said.
Ms Marshall, founder of the victims' group VOICE (Victims Oversight in Criminal Enforcement), said the news came just before the 11-year anniversary of Conner's death. "It couldn't have come at a worse time for me." She described going "from shock and emotional distress to feeling vulnerable and being angry" and said she had become reclusive and socially isolated since the murder.
She also said she was horrified that the probation service had not told her Braddon would be back in court, and that she first learned of it from WalesOnline. She said: "My family's experience isn't a one-off – there lies the problem. During the past 10 years I have met several other families that have suffered the loss of a loved one by a known offender under probation supervision. The reality is that victims' families are overlooked. The shock and horror of having to read something like that online – that is horrific."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said Braddon's crime was horrific and their thoughts remained with Conner Marshall's family, adding: "We know it can be incredibly distressing for victims to see perpetrators in the media without warning and we are looking into this complaint. Under the Victim Contact Scheme victims are notified of key sentence-related information during the offender’s sentence."
Mitigation
Hashim Salmman, representing Jones, said she had significant caring responsibilities for her parents, who both suffer with mobility issues. He said she pleaded guilty on the basis that she agreed to be involved because Braddon and others had found out where her parents lived.
Edward Mitchard, representing Graham, described her as a vulnerable person and detailed how Braddon had effectively blamed himself for bringing his mother and others into the case. He said Graham had raised her niece after her brother died, and the niece had become the first person in their family to get a degree.
John Allchurch, representing Phillips, said her previous convictions had not been the most serious of crimes and had been dealt with by fines or conditional discharge. He said she had moved from Wales to Suffolk with her fiancé, distancing herself from Braddon, and was working full-time as a supervising housekeeper at a hotel.
Ryan Bowen, representing Braddon, said his client had a sense of shame for what he had done, acknowledged the impact his offending had had on family members, and knew he only had himself to blame.
Sentencing
The court heard the judge say that, in Braddon's own admission, there was significant planning and criminal activity over a sustained period of time. Jones had no previous convictions, Graham had one previous conviction for one offence, Phillips had 12 previous convictions for 18 offences, and Braddon had 11 previous offences from 15 offences.
Jones, Graham and Phillips all pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property. Braddon pleaded guilty to possessing a mobile phone while in jail and acquiring money believed to be criminal property.
Judge Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Graham to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered her to attend 20 rehabilitation requirement days. She sentenced Jones and Phillips to two years and nine months in prison. Braddon was sentenced to three years and seven months, to run consecutively to his life sentence.
