A topless man was seen waving a cosh and a knife around on the streets of a Welsh seaside town on a summer evening, a court has heard. Lee Southan had fashioned the cosh out of a sock stuffed with glass mushroom ornaments in order to try to scare off a man who was attempting to get into his home. When that failed he armed himself with a kitchen knife. The defendant subsequently ran away from police who were looking for him, discharging a fire extinguisher in an apparent bid to make a smoke screen to aid his escape.
Incident on Bridge Street
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that at 9pm on August 8 this year members of the public on Bridge Street in Aberystwyth saw a topless man - later identified as Southan - shouting and waving around "a cosh made from two glass mushroom ornaments in a sock". He said the male was then seen to go into a property on the street, while a second male was seen to repeatedly kick the closed front door.
The court heard a short time later Southan returned to the street armed with a kitchen knife with a seven-inch blade. The defendant began swinging the knife at the other male and shouting that he was going to stab him. At this point the male ran off down Pier Street.
The prosecutor said 40-year-old Southan then retreated back into his flat, only to emerge with a rucksack and then run off down Princes Street. The barrister said as the defendant ran, he was talking on a mobile phone and was heard telling someone words to the effect of: "I won't be able to stay there, they know where I live."
Police pursuit and arrest
The court heard that police were notified about the disturbance in the street and officers began a search of town centre for Southan. The defendant was spotted a short time later by a police constable who approached him. When challenged, Southan produced a fire extinguisher from his rucksack, discharged it towards the officer, and created a large cloud of white powder to obscure the view. Southan then ran off but was chased and caught.
The court heard the sock cosh was found in the defendant's rucksack and a search of the flat uncovered a knife hidden between two boxes in the hallway.
The prosecutor said a number of members of the public subsequently gave witness statements to the police, including a mum and her daughter and a couple who were walking home with a takeaway, in which they described their shock, fear, and concern at what unfolded before them on Bridge Street.
Previous convictions and sentencing
Southan, of Bridge Street, Aberystwyth, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and to possession of a bladed article in a public place when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The pleas were entered on the basis that he had been at home on the evening in question when a male tried to gain entry to his property by kicking the door in and that he used the sock cosh and the knife to try to scare the male off.
The defendant has 20 previous convictions for 33 offences including possession of a knife in a public place in 2014 and robbery and possession of an offensive weapon in 2016. The latter offence saw Southan robbing a Premier store in Aberystwyth, an offence for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.
In April 2025 the defendant was given a suspended prison sentence for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. That offence saw Southan being arrested amidst "chaotic scenes" at Aberystwyth railway station having just arrived in the town by train with £1,500 worth of cannabis in a bag.
The defendant's last conviction is for assault by beating from October last year when he kicked a police officer after being arrested for unrelated matters. He was given a conditional discharge for that offence.
The prosecutor said the incident on Bridge Street happened while the defendant was subject to both the suspended sentence and the conditional discharge.
Ian Ibrahim, for Southan, said the only reason the defendant was in the dock was because somebody had tried to break down his front door and attack him. He said it was noteworthy that the male who had been threatened with the weapons - "a person who is very well known" - had not made a statement to police and "doesn't want to show his face".
The barrister said when faced with someone trying to get into his flat his client had "acted a bit foolishly" in the heat of the moment and decided to "fight back" rather than call the police. He said in reality the weapons brandished by Southan had not gone more than a metre or two beyond the curtilage of his property.
Recorder Ben Blakemore said the "ugly incident" had been played out on a summer evening in a seaside town when there were members of the public around. He said he had heard submissions that Southan had acted "foolishly" but said in his view "it was more than that". He said the defendant had escalated the ongoing situation by introducing a knife, and said had the male at the door "stood up" to Southan "it could have turned out very, very differently".
The recorder told the defendant he had then made off, discharging a fire extinguisher as he tried to escape, "though quite what you were trying to achieve with that I do not know".
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Southan was sentenced to 15 months in prison. The recorder activated three months of the previously imposed 12-month cannabis sentence to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of 18 months. The recorder also revoked the conditional discharge and chose not to re-sentence the defendant for that matter.
Southan will serve up to 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
