THESE criminals from across west Wales have been jailed in January.
One of the defendants was described by a judge as the most “fundamentally dishonest” man he’s dealt with during his more than 40-year career in the courtroom, while two learner drivers were also sent to prison for killing 21-year-old passenger Ella Smith.
The other criminals were jailed for offences including being concerned in the supply of cannabis, inflicting grievous bodily harm, assaults, burglary, and breaching restraining orders.
The defendants have been jailed for more than 35 years combined.
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Here’s a round-up of the cases.
Darryl Evans
Fraudster Darryl Evans was described by a judge as the most “fundamentally dishonest” man he’s dealt with during his more than 40-year career in the courtroom after he conned his victims in to paying him over half a million pounds.
Darryl Evans was jailed for a total of eight years after last month being convicted of 26 charges of fraud and one charge of theft.
Following an almost three-week trial, the jury deliberated for around two hours and 45 minutes before returning guilty verdicts on each of the 27 charges.
It was alleged that Evans conned his victims in to handing him more than half a million pounds between 2013 and 2020.
In what was since described by one of the victims as a “Ponzi scheme”, he convinced friends and acquaintances to make high value payments which he said he would put into investment schemes on their behalf.
In reality, he was out of work and funding his own lifestyle.
Evans’ criminal behaviour came to light in 2018, when his victims failed to receive any money from the ‘investments’ and their suspicions were raised.
The court heard that Evans had repaid some of the money to maintain his deceit that he had invested the money, but the actual losses still totalled more than £377,000.
The theft charge related to Evans making himself the executor of a will and paying money directly in to his own bank account.
“You lied during the trial with a fluency which was almost breath-taking.”
Evans, 62, of Green Court Crescent in Tenby, was jailed for seven years, running concurrently, for the first 25 counts of fraud, with a further year for the remaining fraud charge and the theft.
Emma Price and Jago Clarke
Provisional licence holders Emma Price and Jago Clarke were jailed after killing 21-year-old passenger Ella Smith in a crash at Portfield Gate on June 13, 2021.
Clarke, of Sunningdale Drive in Hubberston, and Price, of Holloway in Haverfordwest, were racing when driving back from Broad Haven towards Haverfordwest on the B4341. Black box data from the Ford Ka driven by Clarke showed they averaged 70mph in the two miles before the crash.
The driver of a Seat Ibiza described Price’s Citroen C1 as coming around the corner on the wrong side of the road, appearing to be overtaking the Ford Ka. The Citroen moved back in front of the Ford. Clarke lost control and the Ford went across the road and crashed in to the Seat Ibiza.
Miss Smith – a passenger in the Ford Ka – was killed in the crash, and Daisy Buck – the passenger in the Seat Ibiza – was seriously injured.
Clarke and Price, both now 21, were each charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and causing death by driving whilst unlicensed and uninsured.
They were convicted following a trial at Swansea Crown Court in December.
The defendants were both sentenced to a total of 10 years, and were banned from driving for a total of 11 years each. They will both have to pass an extended retest.
David Williams
David Williams fractured a man’s jaw in an attack outside an address in Ammanford in the early hours of September 10.
The victim had gone out drinking with a friend in Ammanford on Saturday, September 9 before going to an address to buy cannabis in the early hours of the morning.
As he approached the address, he saw Williams in the window – who started shouting at him. The victim turned away, but Williams rushed out of the property and punched him.
He then repeatedly punched the victim in the face, before dragging him to the floor and kicking him repeatedly to the torso.
The victim suffered “extensive bruising to his torso and swelling to his face”. At Morriston Hospital the following day, he was told he had suffered two factures to the jaw, one of which needed emergency surgery, and four teeth were removed.
Williams, 45, of River Way in Ammanford, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on the day of trial.
The judge sentenced Williams to two years and 10 days in prison, and granted the victim a five-year restraining order against Williams.
Ergest Mucopata and Gentian Zhupa
Ergest Mucopata, 42, and Gentian Zhupa, 35, had been working on a cannabis farm in a unit at Honeyborough Industrial Estate to pay off debts to a criminal gang which smuggled them in to the country.
The defendants were each jailed for 12 months for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
Officers found 814 cannabis plants in the industrial unit in a raid on the afternoon of November 17 last year, while there was also basic living facilities for the men and the electricity had also been bypassed.
The plants had an estimated yield of between 22kg and 68kg of cannabis, the prosecution said, and the cannabis would have a had street value of between £88,000 and £350,000 – depending on the yield.
The men – both of no fixed abode – were arrested at the scene.
The court heard that Zhupa had been trafficked in to the UK by a criminal gang and had been working at the farm to pay off debts to the gang. He had been at the farm for around 10 days by the time he was arrested.
Mucopata had been in the UK for around two weeks when he was arrested, and had been smuggled in to the county in a lorry. He had decided to come to the UK to earn money and a better life for his family – but was working at the farm to pay off debts to the gang.
Both men had denied a charge of abstracting electricity. The prosecution accepted these pleas, and not guilty verdicts were passed.
Thomas Fadian
Burglar Thomas Fadian stole a PS5, a Nintendo Switch, and a laptop from Cardiff University’s Talybont Student Halls on August 5 last year.
The occupier had left the room for his dinner at around 6.30pm. When he returned around two hours later, he found his PS5 and games, Nintendo Switch, and a Dell laptop had been taken. A smaller laptop and the victim’s wallet had also been stolen.
The total value of the items stolen was around £1,000.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that the window had been left slightly open, and had been damaged as it was forced further open when Fadian broke in.
Police investigators noticed fingerprints – which matched the defendant’s – on the window of the room, and CCTV footage from the student halls showed Fadian dressed in black, looking in to windows, and pulling an object out of his backpack.
Following a police appeal, 40-year-old Fadian, of Bolgoed Road, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to burglary, and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.
Graham Potter
Graham Potter was branded by a judge as a “nasty bully” who assaults women when he gets drunk.
The court heard that Potter was “getting verbally abusive” towards the victim at an address in Neyland on November 23, before becoming violent. He put his hand under the woman’s chin, but she was able to get free.
“He continued to be verbally abusive,” prosecutor James Hartson said, adding that Potter “grabbed her arm and punched her mouth, causing her lip to bleed”.
“They then started scuffling with each other on the sofa and in the bedroom, causing scratches.”
The court heard that Potter smashed the victim’s television and a chair when she left the living room.
Potter, 41, of Picton Road in Neyland, denied the strangulation charge, but admitted assault by beating and causing criminal damage. These pleas were accepted by the prosecution.
Addressing the defendant, Judge Paul Thomas KC said: “You Mr Potter are a nasty bully. You assault women when you get drunk.
“Unless you kerb your drinking and kerb your temper, you will be going back to prison and the sentences will get longer and longer.”
Potter was jailed for 18 weeks for the assault, with a further six weeks for the criminal damage. He was also made the subject of a two-year restraining order. A not guilty verdict was entered on the strangulation charge.
Richard Pace
Richard Pace was subject to a restraining order imposed by Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in January 2016. However, he breached this order at the Premier Inn on Fishguard Road in Haverfordwest on January 16.
He pleaded guilty to harassment by breaching a restraining order at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on January 18.
Pace, 39, of Ninian Park Road in Cardiff, also admitted stealing handbags worth £129.98 from TK Maxx in Cwmbran on April 7.
The defendant was jailed for six months for the restraining order breach, and must pay £85 in costs. He was also ordered to pay £129.98 in compensation to TK Maxx, and was jailed for two weeks – running concurrently – for shoplifting.
Alisha Stokes
Alisha Stokes attacked a woman and damaged a window in Pembroke on Christmas Eve.
Stokes, 29, was charged with assault by beating and criminal damage following an incident in the town on December 24, 2023.
She was also charged with failing to surrender to bail at the appointed time, after she did not attend Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on January 2.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all three charges at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on January 3.
She was jailed for 10 weeks for the assault, and was ordered to pay £300 in compensation, costs of £85 and a surcharge of £!54. She received four-week sentences, running concurrently, for each of the other offences.
The victim was granted a restraining order against Stokes for two years.
Steven O'Sullivan
Steven O'Sullivan, 37, of Fishguard, has been jailed after twice breaching a restraining order – including on Christmas Day.
It was alleged that he contacted the woman on December 25, and attended her address in Fishguard on January 27.
He admitted both breaches at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on January 29.
O’Sullivan was sentenced to 12 weeks, running concurrently for each breach. This will be served consecutively to an unrelated sentence – meaning the total sentence was one of 22 weeks.
He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs.
Darren Markes
Darren Markes, of Cartlett in Haverfordwest, admitted breaching a domestic violence protection order.
The order had been made by Llanelli Magistrates Court on December 18, 2023.
However, just weeks later, he breached the order by contacting the woman, going in to her home in Haverfordwest, and being violent towards her on Sunday, January 7.
He was jailed for eight weeks when he pleaded guilty to the breach at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on January 8.
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