Fifty-six people were jailed in Wales in July for some of the most serious crimes to reach the courts in the past month. They include a teenage murderer, a carer who shouted abuse at a dementia pensioner, and two takeaway workers who drove vulnerable girls to a remote location before one raped a teenager.
Murder and fatal driving
Kian Bateman, 19, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years for murdering 38-year-old Shelley Davies. He deliberately drove into Davies and her partner David Bratcher outside a Cardiff social club after Bratcher had fought with Bateman's brother. Video footage showed Bateman inhaling laughing gas minutes earlier. His car was later found abandoned with nitrous oxide canisters inside. Ms Davies's mother, Sharon Hillard, said in court: "Shelley was my sunshine on a rainy day, my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
James Hughes, 67, a former jeweller, received a life sentence with a minimum of 13 years for murdering his neighbour Harold Turner, 68, in a bitter noise dispute at their sheltered accommodation in St Asaph. Hughes repeatedly hit Turner with his walking stick and sat on him. A recording captured Turner saying "Get off me, I can't breathe" and Hughes responding with expletives.
Teddy Picton, 19 at the time, was sentenced to seven years' detention in a young offenders' institute for causing death by dangerous driving. He crashed into cyclist Brad Craven, 72, while driving on the wrong side of the road under the influence of cocaine, just weeks after failing his driving test. He was also banned from driving for nine years and eight months.
Sexual offences
Damien Jones, 40, was given a 23-year sentence as an offender of particular concern for 16 sexual offences against a child, including repeated rapes and sexual assaults, between 2013 and 2021.
Wasee Shikel and Azad Ahmed, two Indian takeaway staff, drove vulnerable girls in care from Cardiff to the Neath Port Talbot area in 2021, gave them drugs and alcohol, and one of the men raped a teenager. Both were given 16-year extended sentences as dangerous offenders – 12 years in custody and four on licence.
Serial rapist Kani Tilki, 22, was jailed for 20 years for sexually abusing three teenage girls. He raped a girl under 16 and a 16-year-old, and had sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. He told the victims the abuse was "normal".
Nicholas Brown, 41, from Cardiff, was jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl who begged him to stop and cried for her mother. He told her not to tell anyone, warning there would be "trouble".
James Carr, 68, a former Royal Navy serviceman, was jailed for 15 years for raping and sexually abusing a young boy in what a judge called a "campaign of abuse". He also kept weapons in his house in preparation for the "end of the world".
Tristan Williams, 22, was jailed for 10 years for raping an unresponsive woman while filming the attack with a machete. He denied wrongdoing but was convicted by a jury at Swansea Crown Court.
Neville Braithwaite, 48, sent sexualised images and messages to a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl, who was actually a decoy. He claimed he knew it was a decoy and wanted to get himself into trouble. He was jailed for 18 months.
Romal Xavier, 42, was found guilty of attempted rape, sexual assault and intentional strangulation. The victim said she believed she was going to die. He was jailed for nine years and two months.
David Pincott, 42, travelled from Wales to Scotland to meet an 11-year-old girl he had groomed online. He pretended to be a 14-year-old boy and sent graphic sexual messages. He was jailed for four years and eight months.
Jamie Nugent-Squires, 40, received an extended sentence for posing a risk to children, with a history including sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl and taking looked-after teenagers back to his home and plying them with alcohol and drugs.
Mohammad Haddad, 70, was jailed for six years for historical child sex offences – one count of attempted rape and six of indecent assault committed in the 1990s. The victim said his actions "stole her sense of safety".
Chris Williams, 40, was jailed for 28 months for taking pictures of a teenager from her mother's Facebook page and sending them to a paedophile in San Francisco, as well as exchanging indecent photos of young girls.
Scarlett Lee, 32, previously known as Scott Henwood, was jailed for two years and four months for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by accessing communication apps under a different name. A judge said she had "total disregard for court orders".
Violent assaults and domestic abuse
Chelsea Griffiths, 34, was jailed for 52 months for repeatedly kicking and stamping on Ioan Watkins' head at an Abercynon flat, leaving him with a broken nose, wounds to his forehead and eyebrow, swollen eye sockets and blurred vision. She also assaulted a woman who tried to give first aid.
Demi Oliver, 26, and Kelly Rees, 36, were jailed for chasing Warren Harper around a house in Milford Haven and stabbing him, causing serious injuries to his arm. The attack happened after a night of drinking.
Covie Hallam-Rose, 26, was jailed for 27 months for his role in a pub brawl in Cardiff in which a victim lost sight after Hallam-Rose pressed his thumb into his eye. The judge said he played a "leading role" in the violence.
Jack Bell, 23, was jailed for 32 months for brutal assaults on his partner, threatening to "kill her, chop her up, and burn her" and telling her to "drink bleach".
Carer Louise Harris was jailed for shouting and screaming at an 81-year-old dementia pensioner, telling her she hoped she died in her sleep. She had downed a bottle of vodka from the victim's home and repeatedly screamed "Where's your money?".
Adam Gates, 27, was jailed for domestic abuse, leaving the mother of his baby with a broken bone and fearing for her life. The victim, Jordina Dowdells, spoke out to encourage others to report abuse.
Karl Francis, 28, was jailed over a "drug deal gone wrong" in which he and two others beat a woman and her 15-year-old son in a case of mistaken identity. The plan was to rob a drug dealer but they attacked the wrong victims.
Christopher Eaton was jailed for 31 months for his part in a six-on-one attack on a Swansea shopworker on Union Street. The attack ended when a delivery rider intervened. He also smashed a door at a McDonald's, carried a knife in public, and assaulted his partner.
Darren Lewis, 52, was jailed for repeatedly stomping on his wife after an argument at a pub in Knighton, Powys, leaving her with internal bruising to her lungs.
Owain Williams-Bates, 39, was jailed for 26 weeks for trashing his partner's flat, cutting up her clothes and stealing a memory box containing keepsakes of her son.
Anthony O'Keeffe, 50, was jailed for two years and 10 months for stalking a woman who rejected him, telling her "I wouldn't go to sleep tonight – there isn't anyone to protect you".
Marius Alisauskas, 29, was jailed for 29 months for breaching a restraining order with menacing messages, including one saying he had a "plan" for his ex and would be "coming soon".
Nicky Gould, 34, was jailed for threatening to kill his ex-partner and her children. A judge said he had a "major problem" after a string of abusive relationships.
Patrick Duggan, 51, was jailed after reversing into a police car in Abertillery, causing £28,000 damage and writing off the vehicle. He had been disqualified from driving since 1994.
Jack Heard, 28, broke into a disabled man's home in Pontypool and stole his Ford Focus, which contained his mobility scooter and walking aids. He led police on a chase reaching speeds of 90mph.
Tinos Short, 20, a serial car thief from Brecon, was jailed for four years. He crashed a car, flipped it onto its roof, and asked a witness to help flip it back before speeding off from police.
Corey Roberts was jailed for 14 months for witness intimidation, sending threatening texts to a woman's family to stop her giving evidence against his brother.
Christopher Ponting, 37, was jailed for contempt of court after filming inside a courtroom, causing a murder trial to collapse.
Drug dealing and organised crime
Jason Partridge, 41, was jailed for five years for running a million-pound steroid and prescription pill dealing operation from a Swansea house. Almost £1.5m had been paid into his bank accounts over six years.
Nicole Locke was jailed for five years and six months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine. A number linked to her was involved in a drug line, and white powder was found at her address.
Mariglen Llapushi, 27, an Albanian national, was jailed for three years for dealing cocaine from a rented car and faces deportation. He was caught after a police chase and left a tag that gave away his location.
Craig Jones, 41, was jailed for three years for dealing crack cocaine and heroin in Cardiff. Some of the drugs were found hidden inside a bacon roll.
Zubair Mehdi, 27, was jailed for six years for dealing Class A drugs for the fourth time in less than a decade. He was caught with bags of cocaine and £310 cash in Swansea.
Corey Sutton, 19, was jailed for 28 months in a young offenders' institute for possessing £300 of cocaine hidden in a Kinder egg, along with a bag of cannabis.
Tariq Francis, 29, was jailed for two years and nine months for possessing crack cocaine worth up to £1,680, found when police arrested him at a homeless shelter.
Macauley Hughes, 29, was jailed for two years and six months after being found with cannabis and 2,000 bromazolam tablets, which he claimed were "presents".
Flynn Johnson-Andrews was jailed for four years for possessing 2.7kg of ketamine and more than 600g of cannabis in a Tesco carrier bag. He was on licence for dealing cocaine at the time.
Joshua Attard, 24, was jailed for three years for possessing cocaine worth £5,400 and cannabis. He gave a false name to police, leading to an innocent man's home being raided.
Myah Benskin-Sullivan, 30, was jailed for 70 months for involvement with an organised crime group supplying cocaine, crack cannabis, cannabis and THC. He was estimated to have made between £2,400 and £3,200.
Sai Manne, 26, and Molly Cooper, 34, were jailed for their roles in an organised crime group responsible for the murder of Joanne Penney. Manne, a runner selling drugs, received 27 months; Cooper, a driver, was jailed for two years and six months after her DNA was found on ammunition used in the murder.
Fraud and other crime
David Griffiths, 52, was jailed for three and a half years for conning two women he met on dating apps out of more than £15,000. He lied about being a retired Army major with a £120,000 salary.
Ashley Eadie, 32, threatened a shop worker with scissors in Rhymney, demanding money from the till. He handed himself in the next day, saying he couldn't live with what he had done.
Callum Dare, 26, was jailed for two years and three months for being an administrator on a dark web network that encouraged "swatting" incidents, including false reports that led to hotel evacuations and armed police responses.
Richard Murnane, 42, a roofer, was jailed for two years and eight months for scamming elderly victims with "abysmal" and "worthless" work on their roofs, leaving many with water damage.
Cleonest Massera, 21, defrauded a woman in her 80s out of £20,000 by pretending to be from the police. He was jailed for 32 months.
Martin Roberts, 36, was jailed for three years for following two women in Swansea city centre and looking up one's skirt, then carrying out a sex act in a police cell.
Owen Pendree, 32, was jailed for 12 months for riding an e-bike through Newport streets, doing wheelies, and throwing the bike in a river when caught by police.
