Locked Up: The Gwent criminals jailed so far in 2020

We look at their crimes and punishment.

Jamie Williams

Controlling boyfriend Jamie Williams whipped his girlfriend with a dog lead before using it to strangle her.

The 20-year-old, from Newport, also placed her in a headlock, banged her head against a fridge door, poured alcohol and washing up liquid over her, and punched her repeatedly.

Williams was sent to a young offender institution for 16 months.

Emelio Malson

Cocaine dealer Emelio Malson boasted to his customers on Facebook he was back in business just after being released following his arrest on drugs charges.

The 22-year-old, from Pontypool, advertised “bumping fire” and “banging ammo” in text bombs he would send to his customers.

He was jailed for two years and six months.

Michael Thomas

Michael Thomas, 42, of Bryn Teg, Bargoed, was jailed at Newport Crown Court after he admitted threatening a person with an offensive weapon.

He was sent to prison for two years and must pay a £149 victim surcharge within 56 days of his release.

The offence took place on February 7 in Bargoed.

Dylan Coffin

Knifeman Dylan Coffin assaulted his victim at a city centre McDonald's restaurant.

The 26-year-old, of Church Street, Newport, was jailed for 16 months after he admitted causing actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon.

The offences were committed at the McDonald's on Newport’s High Street on January 19.

Philip Royal

Burglar Philip Royal stole cigarettes after raiding a city centre shop whilst being the subject of a suspended sentence following a shoplifting spree.

The 51-year-old, of York Place, Newport, was locked up for a break-in at the WH Smith store in Commercial Street on Tuesday, February 11.

Royal was jailed for 28 weeks.

Kai Ford

A police officer feared he was going to die as he was being dragged across the ground after becoming trapped in the door of a Mini with teenage drug dealer Kai Ford at the wheel.

The learner driver, 18, from Pontypool, reversed at speed as he was being challenged by PC Greg Scanlon in Cwmbran.

The policeman was then thrown on to the bonnet after the defendant crashed into an unmarked police car.

The judge locked Ford up for 12 months and banned him from driving for two years and six months.

Nikki Edmunds and Kerry Jones

Nikki Edmunds was armed with a meat cleaver when he attacked a terrified 62-year-old victim before using the weapon to try and rob a homeowner who turned out to be a relative.

The seasoned criminal, 32, from Pontllanfraith, was jailed for nearly five years after a judge heard of his “bizarre” crime spree.

His partner in crime and girlfriend Kerry Jones, aged 27, of Church Street, Rhymney, admitted a public order offence, breaching a community order for aggravated vehicle taking and allowing herself to be carried in a car.

David Owen and Lee Powell

A crooked councillor who plotted with a career criminal to steal high value agricultural equipment is behind bars.

David Owen, 54, conspired with Lee Powell over the theft of a £9,000 John Deere Gator 4x4 vehicle from a farm in Abergavenny.

Bridgend county councillor David Owen was jailed for three years and Powell, 33, of Waunheulog, Nantyglo, was locked up for two years.

Caine Williams

A “coward” who flew into childish rages and beat up his pregnant girlfriend in ‘vicious’ attacks when he was drinking, was jailed for nearly three years.

Caine Williams, 21, of no fixed abode, of Cwmbran, attacked the woman on two occasions, once after she had not asked him to attend an antenatal scan with her.

Thomas Stanway, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court the assaults had taken place on the victim when she was carrying his child.

Jordan Corfield

An “obsessively jealous” man humiliated his girlfriend after keeping her prisoner in his home while she was near-naked during a terrifying ordeal.

Jordan Corfield made the woman strip down to her knickers and she only escaped his captivity when he opened his flat door after ordering a takeaway.

The 20-year-old, from Ombersley Road, Newport, was locked up for 18 months.

Sian Carey

Sian Carey, aged 29, of Riverside Drive, Blaenavon, was jailed after she pleaded guilty to burglary, harassment, assault and sending an offensive message under the Malicious Communications Act.

She was sent to prison for 35 weeks by Judge Michael Fitton QC at Cardiff Crown Court.

Ieuan Batten

Ieuan Batten’s mother never wants to see him again after he unleashed a ferocious attack upon her as she tried to protect a dog he was beating.

She feared he would have killed her had the police not turned up as he punched and stamped on her in a sustained assault that lasted half an hour.

Batten, aged 23, of Forest Avenue, Cefn Hengoed, near Ystrad Mynach, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

At Newport Crown Court, Judge Daniel Williams told the defendant, who was high on alcohol and drugs during the attack, that: “This was a savage assault. You used dreadful violence.”

Batten was jailed for two years.

Daniel Dyas

Daniel Dyas scratched an obscene “revenge” message on a love rival’s BMW car outside his ex-girlfriend’s home after flying into a jealous rage. 

The prolific offender, aged 27, of Taliesin, Cwmbran, pleaded guilty to a breach of a restraining order, criminal damage and a public order offence.

He was jailed for eight months.

Kenode Germain

Dealer Kenode Germain was jailed for six years after he racked up his third conviction for trafficking class A drugs.

Kenode Germain, 35, of Crouch Close, Bettws, Newport, was caught with cocaine, heroin and cannabis after he was stopped while travelling in a car on the city's Corporation Road.

He also admitted handling stolen goods in the form of a £20,000 Audi Q3 which had been stolen in a burglary and had false plates.

Brian Tapper

Prolific sex offender Brian Tapper was snared by paedophile hunters and police officers in an undercover sting.

The 53-year-old, of Samsons Avenue, Varteg, Pontypool, believed he was asking two 13-year-old schoolgirls for sex after making contact online.

He was jailed for 14 months.

Danny Williams

A “drug dealers' dealer” was jailed after he was caught trafficking cocaine and cannabis.

Police raided Danny Williams’ home in Cwmbran last summer after they arrested another teenager from the town for peddling drugs and analysed his mobile phone.

This investigation led them to the 22-year-old defendant who was sent to prison for two years and eight months at Newport Crown Court.

James Evans, prosecuting, said Williams was “a dealers' dealer” who supplied “street” traffickers.

Lukasz Weckowicz

Lukasz Weckowicz took part in a brutal robbery that saw an 81-year-old businessman punched unconscious in his jewellery and pawn shop.

The defendant and an unnamed accomplice, targeted their “vulnerable victim” at Raza's Buy and Sell Shop on Newport’s Commercial Street in September 2017.

The shop owner, Syed Raza, hasn’t been able to return to work because he has been left so traumatised by the robbery and lost around £6,000 during the raid.

He feared he could have been killed during his ordeal and had his business in the city for 44 years.

The robber, 34, formerly of Newport, went on the run for more than two years before he was caught just before Christmas.

Weckowicz, of Eastwood Avenue, March, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to robbery.

Judge Nicola Jones jailed him for three years and eight months.

Matthew Ross Batt

Matthew Ross Batt, 35, of Bargoed, was jailed for four years and six months and made the subject of a 10-year restraining order after he pleaded guilty to stalking.

Outside Cardiff Crown Court, Detective Constable Mark Price, the officer in the case, said: “I would like to thank the victim for their strength and willingness to support this prosecution.

“The seriousness of the offence has been reflected in the sentence handed down.”

Luke Jones

Masked gunman Luke Jones stormed into Bargoed Snooker Club and tried to rob a terrified barmaid he had befriended.

He traumatised his victim during the botched stick-up last Christmas and pulled off his balaclava when he realised she recognised him.

The 29-year-old was jailed for eight years after he also admitted dealing heroin.

Kyle Jarvis

Cocaine dealer Kyle Jarvis was caught by police while more than three times the drink-drive limit.

The 33-year-old, of Moorland Park, Newport, pleaded guilty to possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and driving with 126 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

He was jailed for three years and two months.

Kyle Bird

Drug dealer Kyle Bird was locked up for three years for trafficking both cocaine and crack cocaine.

The 33-year-old, of Park Road, Penygarn, Pontypool, was jailed at Newport Crown Court after he admitted possessing the class A drugs with intent to supply.

The offences were committed in his home town on August 27, 2019.

Ethan Smith

Teenage drug dealer Ethan Smith was locked up after being caught trafficking class A drugs twice within the space of four months.

The 18-year-old, of Dewstow Street, Newport, was first arrested by plain-clothed police when he was riding a scooter on the city’s Chepstow Road last July.

The city’s crown court heard that while he was released under investigation, he went back to drug dealing and was caught again by officers, this time on Sycamore Avenue on November 18.

Smith pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply.

He was sent to a young offender institution for two years and four months.

Michael Simpson

Tattooed knifeman Michael Simpson was jailed for a year after he terrorised his victim.

The defendant, aged 40, of Zion Place, Ebbw Vale, admitted threatening a person with a blade or sharply pointed article.

The shocking incident happened in the Blaenau Gwent town last September.

Nathan Smith

An ex-boyfriend who shattered his victim’s jaw after trying to get her to drop charges over a domestic violence allegation was jailed for three years.

Nathan Smith’s victim was left “distressed” and her mouth pouring with blood after the violent attack last Hallowe'en.

The 32-year-old, of Waun Road, Cwmbran, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice.

Kingsley Borg

A heroin dealer was condemned by a judge for helping “cause misery and mayhem in people’s lives” as he jailed him.

Kingsley Borg, 26, was caught red-handed by police with three “ballers” potentially worth nearly £1,600 at Newport Retail Park.

He was sent to prison for 30 months.

Joshua Southwell

Joshua Southwell, 21, from Cwmbran, led police on a car chase through the country lanes of Newport and Cardiff before he rammed officers in a last-ditch bid to escape the law.

He was fleeing because he was a disqualified driver and had a cargo of cannabis on board his Volkswagen Passat.

Southwell was jailed for 20 months.

Mark Walsh and Gary Jackson

Family men Mark Walsh, 33, of Pontgam Terrace, Ynysddu, and Gary Jackson, also 33, of Grove Road, Risca, were jailed at Cardiff Crown Court.

The pair admitted to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between October 14, 2019 and January 30.

Walsh was jailed for four years and eight months, while Jackson received a custodial term of three years.