A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND lung cancer patient has told a court of the trauma she suffered after a Blaenavon man allegedly threatened to kill her in her own home.

Ashley Beacham, aged 21, of Duke Street, Blaenavon, denies a charge of affray and making a threat to kill at an address at Riverside Drive in Blaenavon on March 1.

His mother, Rachael Warren, aged 52, of Market Street, Blaenavon, also denies a charge of affray relating to the same incident at the home of Sharon Gwillym, 50.

A third defendant, a teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, also denies an affray charge.

Newport Crown Court heard yesterday how Mrs Gwillym’s daughter, Nadine, 21, had been socialising with her friend, Laura Reed, on February 28.

Despite being in a relationship at the time, the prosecution alleges that Beacham sent Ms Reed and Ms Gwillym intimate Facebook messages that night.

When his girlfriend, Becky Johnson, discovered this, Beacham decided to pay Ms Gwillym a visit at her mother’s home the next day.

Giving evidence via video link, Ms Gwillym’s mother told the court that Beacham turned up to the house with his hood up at around 4.45pm. His mother, Warren, and the younger defendant were with him.

Warren banged on Nadine Gwillym’s bedroom window, with Ms Gwillym having been in bed with the curtains drawn.

Frightened, she went into her mother’s room and Mrs Gwillym, who can only walk a few steps at a time, then answered the door on her behalf.

When Mrs Gwillym opened the door, Warren grabbed her left arm, dragged her into her living room and pushed her against the wall.

Beacham and the third defendant followed through the window, which was ajar. Beacham, who is 6ft 5in, then grabbed Mrs Gwillym by her collar and pulled her face towards him.

He raised a metal chair in the air and allegedly screamed, ‘If you [Warren] don’t smash her, I will’. Speaking about the Gwillyms, he then threatened to “kill the lot of you”.

Giving evidence, Mrs Gwillym said: “I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

“I couldn’t breathe, I was shaking. I was quite a mess.

“I’ll never forget his [Beacham’s] eyes, they were frightening.

“I told him that Nadine was at a friend’s house. She [Warren] then shouted at him to get out of the house.

“I thought they’d come back after me…I’m too afraid to go back.”

Ms Gwillym had phoned the police from her mother’s bedroom and Beacham was eventually arrested on March 4. His mother and the teenager were arrested on March 18 and May 17 respectively.

Yesterday morning, the seven women and five men of the jury were sworn in by Judge David Wynn Morgan.

Proceeding.