Criminals have been jailed for serious crimes in Wales in the past month

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Here is our monthly round up of the criminals who have been locked up for some of the most serious crimes in Wales over the past month. They include a driver high on alcohol and drugs who killed a young dad when he crashed his car, and a cyclist who killed an elderly woman when he collided with her at speed.

Stewart McGinn didn't even stop at the scene to check on his victim, who suffered a fractured skull in the fall and died days later in hospital.

There was also a dozing burglar who was found asleep surrounded by half-eaten Easter in a house he had burgled, and a Hermes driver who used his work van to transport heroin between west Wales and Newport.

A number of men were also jailed for stalking or attacking women - one man punched his wife in the face and hit her with a chair in front of one of their children, while another sent 155 voice calls and Facetime calls in one day to his former partner and threatened her.

Here are the criminals and their crimes:

Gasps were heard in court as footage was played of a fatal head-on collision which resulted in the death of a young father. The driver, Rowe, had been out all night drinking alcohol and taking drugs when he became involved in a police chase during which the crash occurred.

The 26-year-old, of Merthyr Tydfil, caused the death of Robbie-Lee Selway, 21, who was the front seat passenger of a stolen Ford Fiesta which collided with a white Renault Clio at 11am on May 13 last year between the Hirwaun and Llwydcoed junctions of the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road. Rowe had driven into incoming traffic after the number of lanes in the road reduced due to roadworks, in a bid to get away from pursuing police.

The cyclist killed an elderly woman after he collided with her at speed as she walked on the pavement and callously rode off. Elizabeth Jayne Stone suffered a fractured skull after being knocked off her feet and died days later in hospital.

McGinn did not check to see if the 79-year-old was injured after he crashed into her in Monmouth on June 7 last year despite her friend pleading with the cyclist to stop. He handed himself into police after seeing an appeal following Ms Stone's death.

The driver rammed police cars during two separate police chases after "panicking" because he thought the officers would beat him up.

Sallhie raced through a pedestrianised area popular with late night clubbers before giving police the slip, only to become involved in a second high-speed pursuit - this one over the course of some 15 miles - later the same day. He then rammed police cars and injured an officer as he tried to get away before crashing into a hotel and running off.

Mark Whittingham and Jordan Tanner

A cocaine dealer advertised his illicit trade with a tattoo complete with his drug line phone number. Tattooed Whittingham and friend and neighbour Tanner were running a significant coke dealing operation from their Afan Valley base.

When officers searched a number of vans owned by the men they recovered more than £31,000 of high-purity cocaine, while in the house of one of the dealers police found a stun-gun disguised as a torch. Police also recovered a laptop computer belonging to Whittingham containing indecent images of children. Read more

A police officer was off work for a month and then was only able to return to light duties after being attacked by a woman in a cell. Bevan had been arrested following a public order incident in Swansea when she kicked and struck the female officer in a "fit of rage", leaving her victim with a damaged knee and requiring a splint on her leg.

Bevan has a long history of offending and at the time of the attack was subject to a suspended sentence for assaulting three police officers. Sending her back to prison a judge said she could see no alternative to immediate custody.

The Hermes driver used the same van he used for his job to transport heroin between west Wales and Newport six times, before being caught by police as he attempted to do it on a seventh occasion.

James was stopped by police at a petrol station in Cross Hands on April 4 earlier this year. He was found to be carrying more than £17,000 worth of the drug together with £140. Police sought to detain him at the scene but he physically resisted, and caused injury to a police officer during the melee. See the video of him running off here.

He left a young child with a fractured rib and bruises claimed he was “still pumped” from a visit to the gym when he caused the injuries. Sutor hurt the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, during an incident in south Wales in the summer of 2021.

The 33-year-old initially said the injuries had been caused accidentally but later admitted responsibility.

The 22-year-old used a drone in an attempt to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a prison, but was caught by police hiding in nearby bushes using an iPad.

Richards attached an orange and black football sock to the drone which contained the contraband he attempted to smuggle into HMP Parc in Bridgend. Four packages were found to contain 399 buprenorphine tablets, around 30g of cannabis and 11 mobile phones and their chargers.

A pensioner who entrusted Gayford to look after her garden two days a week discovered that he stole money from her handbag when a camera was set up in her bedroom after she discovered money was going missing. For eight years the 75-year-old hired him to carry out the job for her at her house in Llandovery.

But after money started going missing from her house a motion detector CCTV system was set up in her bedroom. Swansea Crown Court heard how on October 1 last year the pensioner received an alert on her phone after a motion was detected in her bedroom.

The cannabis factory worker fled across the rooftops of a row of terraced houses as police forced their way in through the front door. Xixi spent half an hour on the roofs before coming down and being arrested in a nearby garden.

A search of the house the defendant fled from uncovered a commercial scale operation with 130 plants in plastic-lined rooms, lights, fans, timers, and fertilizer. It also emerged the people who set up the farm had dug up the street outside and tapped directly into the mains electricity cable before relaying the road.

He reversed into a wall at a petrol station as he drove away from police before smashing into a taxi and then abandoning his car prompting a helicopter search to locate his whereabouts.

Sentencing Croucher to a year in prison Judge Geraint Walters said: "The facts of the case are sadly all too common these days. The court is routinely dealing with young men who abuse the road."

The imposter mother admitted to police that she pretended to be 150 people on their practical and theory driving tests across Britain to the tune of £700 and £800 a time.

Kaur, a 29-year-old mother-of-one from Swansea, had led a previously unremarkable life but told police she was lured into the crimes by money she was offered.

At Swansea Crown Court, Kaur was sentenced to just eight months for the fraud because only 63 cases could be proven by police. Kaur committed the offences all over the UK and more so in Swansea, Carmarthen, Bridgend, north Wales, Birmingham, Nottingham, London and the home counties for women of Asian descent who didn’t have a good grasp of the English language and most of whom had previously failed their tests at least once.

Jones has a long history of violence and this month was jailed for attacking a stranger in the street, striking his victim to the head with a hammer with such force that he fractured his skull and left him with neurological damage.

Jones leapt from the passenger seat of a car in Barry on September 11, 2020, approached his victim and within seconds beat him about the head with the weapon causing terrible and lasting injuries to the man. A judge said there was no conceivable reason for Jones' actions other than the 38-year-old was "excited by violence".

The drug dealing brothers were found with a combined amount of 18.2kg of heroin and crack cocaine worth £1m after one of them was pulled over by police while transporting the drugs. Both brothers were based in Liverpool and were delivering packages of class A drugs to south Wales. Read the full story here.

He viciously attacked his wife by punching her in the face and hitting her with a chair following an argument about looking after their children – while one of them was in the room. The 27-year-old was at home with his wife and two young children in Caebricks Road in Swansea on the evening of May 10 this year.

His wife took the children, aged 16 months and three years old, to bed and asked Jesan to help, a court heard. When he refused an argument soon started and later, at around 2.15am the following morning, Jesan brought the youngest child into the living room where his wife was sleeping and placed the child on top of her. He then proceeded to insult her using “offensive and lurid” language.

The thug ran over his ex partner with a car during an argument in which he called her a "s***" and a "dull c***". He drove off after injuring her and was caught on CCTV changing his clothes by a skip.

Watkins, 26, of Ebbw Vale, also trashed the victim's mother's car by using a brick to smash her wing mirrors. The defendant and his ex partner had been in a relationship for around three years and had rekindled their romance months before the assault.

The criminal stole cars and led police on a chase through Swnasea when they tried to apprehend him.

The 24-year-old, of no fixed abode appeared at Swansea Crown Court via prison videolink for sentencing having admitted two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, attempted theft of a motor vehicle, and dangerous driving.

The prolific burglar was found at seven o'clock in the morning sleeping on his victim's sofa surrounded by half-eaten Easter eggs. Dozy Potham remained sound asleep until police officers arrived at the house and woke him from his slumber.

The defendant had a pair of his victim's socks on his hands, stolen earrings in his trouser pocket, and a rucksack full of the family's possession including children's passports and a laptop. Swansea Crown Court heard the two young girls who live in the house were "terrorised" by the experience of having an intruder in their home, and have been left worried that he will return.

Stephanie Jones and Jordan Davies

They were part of a gang of "animalistic" vigilantes beat up an innocent tourist in his campervan, robbed him and stripped him naked, then frogmarched him into a nearby pub in a west Wales town because they wrongly thought he was a paedophile.

The bleeding and bruised man asked for help in the bar but was thrown out - and as he sat on the pavement outside in a distressed state a female member of the gang kicked him in the face before laughing. Read the full story here.

The driver attempted to run over a father and son outside their home following an altercation on a night out. CCTV footage of the hit and run showed the father dragging his son out of the car's path as it hurtled towards them.

O'Brien, 26, lay in wait outside the home of Sam and Clive Kitchen on Cardiff in the early hours of Christmas Eve last year. When he saw them both leaving their car, he increased his speed and attempted to run them over.

The stalker sent 155 voice calls and Facetime calls in one day to his former partner and threatened to post intimate photos of her if she didn't withdraw her complaint to the police. He also verbally abused her and posted photos online of her and her mother along with their contact details.

The 23-year-old, of Cardiff, split up from his partner in January this year but wouldn't accept she did not want to see him any more.

He pushed a screwdriver into his pregnant partner's stomach and threatened to "gut her like a fish" and to kill her unborn baby. Harris has a long history of assaulting and harassing partners and ex-partners - including breaking the jaw of one victim - leading a judge to brand him a "cowardly bully" who was incapable of safely being in a relationship with women.

Sending the defendant to prison, a judge said the only way the courts could protect women from him was by locking him up for as long as possible.

He told police he drove from south Wales to Oxfordshire to "clear his head" but was found with up to £180,000 worth of cocaine. And things then went from bad to worse when his phone revealed he had been been dealing wholesale quantities of drugs.

The 31-year-old, of Bridgend, was stopped by police in an area of Oxfordshire known for drug dealing at 10pm on February 11. When his car was searched he was found in possession of £9,850 in cash and a small amount of cannabis.

Claudiu Dumitru, Iulian Buruiana, 26, and Cristian Raducanu

The trio travelled to south Wales armed and "tooled up" with a stun gun and an axe to scare a woman working as an escort. They were caught on the drive home when they were pulled over by police.

Police were called to a disturbance in Newport on January 4 after a car containing the three drove away. The defendants were later stopped on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 near junction 27.

Marcus Lewis and Keiran Bunce

The prolific criminals teamed up to commit two burglaries on consecutive nights. Lewis and Bunce smashed their way into a woman's house in the dead of night before stealing a haul of personal items, and the next night broke into a tanning salon while the owner was asleep on the premises. Read the full story here.

The former children's entertainer who was unmasked as a paedophile and had strict restrictions on his i nternet usage was caught with a secret phone.

Perera is required to register any smart phone he owns with the authorities after being jailed for downloading thousands of images of child sexual abuse. But despite being given a strong warning by a Crown Court late last year, the 59-year-old was found by police hiding in a car with an undisclosed Huawei phone - a device he tried to conceal in a nearby shed when the officers turned their backs.

He stabbed his brother-in-law with a knife after a row broke out during fishing trip. Smolen grabbed the serrated-edged weapon and plunged it into his victim's thigh leaving the man bleeding profusely, and resulting in armed police being dispatched to the scene.

He denied a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, and gave evidence at his trial - but shortly after leaving the witness box he jumped on a ferry and headed for mainland Europe. He was acquitted in his absence but a warrant was issued, and after almost two weeks at large he was arrested. He returned to the dock this month to be sentenced for the assault, having previously admitted a lesser charge.

The young drug dealer was found in possession of £10,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis and around £15,000 of designer clothes and bikes when police searched his home. He was also found in possession of a Rambo knife and a knuckleduster.

Green, 21, of Cardiff, was stopped by police who were searching for a vulnerable teenager involved in drug dealing on May 9.

The drug dealer was found in possession of more than £20,000 worth of cocaine weighing more than half a kilo as well as £15,000 in cash and a Rolex watch. Cotterill was selling the Class A drugs to other dealers.

The 25-year-old, from Cardiff, was discovered when his car was stopped by police on May 26 and various items were seized. A mobile phone revealed text messages which indicated he had been dealing cocaine by the ounce for financial reward.

The "selfish and self-centred" paedophile groomed and sexually assaulted an underage teenager. The abuse left the victim traumatised after he "robbed her of her virginity and childhood".

Brum, 39, of Newport, manipulated his victim to force her to engage in sexual activity including intercourse.

When he was discovered he sought to blame the girl for the abuse, telling a friend he was in love with her and she had been his equal in a relationship. But this was dismissed by the sentencing judge.

He lived in squalid conditions with a bed in a single kitchen and a bathroom and claimed he maintained the hundreds of cannabis plants inside the building because he was being threatened.

Recorder Hobson told the court he found it hard to believe that Bami – who cannot speak English and listened to the hearing through a translator – was merely a gardener and pointed to text messages police discovered on the 26-year-old's mobile phone which showed he offered step-by-step advice to another person on how to grow the plants

Maxwell was given a £50,000 UK Government grant but ended up blowing the money away on drugs. Maxwell, of Newport, was given the massive government grant for his vehicle recovery firm.

The 35-year-old first used the money sensibly - buying a £22,000 tow truck. However, he frittered the remaining money away on crack cocaine before selling the tow truck to buy more of the Class A drug.

And after running up a debt, he then became involved in a drugs conspiracy which made more than £350,000. He also burgled a house of cash and drove dangerously during a police pursuit. Read the full story here.

Beqir, Kujdesi and Milazim Vata

Two brothers were found growing hundreds of cannabis plants worth as much as £900,000 inside an industrial unit in Pontypridd. Beqir, 41, and Kujdes, 37, were discovered running the huge cannabis factory in the unit by officers from South Wales Police, along with 856 plants.

The plants were given an estimated street value of between £299,600 and £898,800. The men's younger brother was later identified as a result of enquiries conducted at an address in Gloucester. Milazim, 23, was arrested after police found huge vacuum packed bags of cannabis weighing over 11kg under his bed, which were given a potential street value of £137,500. Read the full story here.

He s ubjected his ex partner to a brutal assault which left her so badly hurt she says she is too scared to look in the mirror.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Edwards first attacked his former girlfriend Penny Barton on April 18 earlier this year.

Stephen Pullen and Lynette Baldwin

Pullen agreed to throw packages containing cannabis over a prison wall after his son was being beaten up while serving a prison sentence due to his father's drug debt. The inmate's mother also became involved in the scheme to prevent her son from being assaulted.

Pullen, 48, and Baldwin, 55, of Newport, tried to smuggle 382g of cannabis and eight mobile phones into HMP Parc in Bridgend. They failed after prison officers intercepted the packages and called the police who traced the former couple's car back to them. Read what happened next here.

The serial offender told a woman to "sleep with one eye open" and threatened to burn down her home and kidnap her dog after she told him she didn't want to be in a relationship. He also said he would send round people who would smash down her door to retrieve £15.

The 37-year-old, of Newport, scared his victim after he told her he knew where he lived and sent hundreds of threatening text messages and voice notes. He became angry after she blocked him on social media and made various threats against her safety.

The career burglar targeted six homes in two nights during a drug-fuelled spree of offending. Ellis had only been out of prison for a matter of weeks when he broke into two family homes and tried to break into another four.

From one of the homes he stole a jar of loose change, and it was the children of the family who found the smashed and abandoned jar on the street the following morning as they walked to school. The quick thinking youngsters preserved the jar in case it held any forensic clues about who had just broken into their house.

He grew a cannabis factory worth almost £200,000 above a disused takeaway.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Koleci was caught by police running the enterprise above 28 Station Road, Port Talbot on the floors above the former Best Kebab & Fried Chicken, which was vacant at the time. Officers, acting on intelligence, forced entry into the property on February 11 this year to find the Albanian and another male inside the property.

The burglar stole £10,000 worth of equipment from a leisure centre and also stole laptops from a student house. He also swiped vodka and products from various shops.

Lord, 39, broke into Newport International Sports Village on May 8 but was caught after and alarm was set off and notified police. When officers attended the centre at around 11pm several men on bikes scattered from the scene.

The former council roofer was jailed after being caught driving over twice the legal alcohol limit.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Harris drove a Ford Transit along the A4067 in Ystradgynlais on June 8 when he was stopped by police at 10.15am. He was found to have no insurance or tax and further checks found he was disqualified from driving. It also became clear to the officers dealing with Harris that he was intoxicated so a roadside breath test was carried out. It showed he had 75mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He grabbed his mother around the throat and punched her in the head before assaulting his father who tried to stop him. His parents have now said they never wish to see him again.

The 39-year-old attacked his elderly parents Brian and Geraldine Keohane at their home in Tonyrefail on March 29. The defendant had been drinking prior to the assaults and had no recollection of the incident.

The dealer caught peddling illegal drugs on the streets of Swansea had travelled from Essex to do so in order to pay off a debt.

Police officers from the organised crime team were on mobile patrol on June 7 earlier this year when they spotted Knight, who they felt had an appearance of a drug user, walking into a lane along Llangyfelach Road in Swansea. He was observed walking towards a parked car and trying to open the passenger door to get inside.

The robber jumped on his victim from behind and tackled him to the floor before reaching into his back pocked and stealing his wallet. He then went on to use bank cards to buy food.

The 46-year-old attacked Timothy Inight in Newport city centre on August 28 in a random street robbery. He then ran away leaving the victim, who was left with "mental scars", on the floor.

The recycling firm boss was jailed after a worker with a 'heart of gold' died in an horrific baling machine accident. Jones, 60, was responsible for the death of Norman Butler at Recycling Cymru Ltd in Kinmel Bay in a machine which was 'primed and ready to kill', said a judge.

It was heard that Mr Butler, 60, of Prestatyn, had climbed up a conveyor belt, used for taking waste cardboard into a container at the top, where staff would go to dislodge a blockage. He was later found at the bottom of a connecting chute in a compaction chamber. His left foot had been severed at the ankle and he died from massive blood loss at the site on the Tir Llwyd industrial estate on November 30, 2017. Read the full story here.

The painter and decorator who was transported to Wales was found by police at a cannabis factory with more than 2,000 plants with a potential value of £1m. Also found were various items used to grow cannabis including filters, lights and fans.

The 43-year-old was arrested by police after trying to flee from a unit at an industrial estate in Cardiff on May 27 when officers from South Wales Police's organised crime group carried out a raid.

The serial disqualified driver drove in excess of 100mph during a number of police chases and crashed into a central reservation as officers tried to box him in. On another occasion he was found to be under the influence of cocaine while driving.

The 32-year-old, of Caerphilly, drove dangerously several times on roads in south Wales and his attempts to avoid police were caught on dash cam footage. He also failed to provide blood samples due to fear of needles, claiming to officers "I don't drink or do drugs".

The teenager was one of those arrested in Swansea's Victoria Park by police investigating cocaine dealers who were brazenly operating from a bench in the popular park.

As patrolling police watched, five drug deals were conducted before backup arrived and they were able to swoop on the Class A traffickers.

It was the third time in a matter of months Al-Sulaimawi had been caught dealing drugs in Swansea - on the previous two occasions he had been questioned then released. A judge said decent people living in the city had to put up with dealers on their streets and even in the parks, branding such behaviour "disgraceful".

The knife-wielding thief was caught stealing clothes from baby shop Mamas and Papas and s wung his bladed weapon at a man who tried to stop him from leaving. The defendant was on bail at the time having previously been found in possession of a knife.

The 41-year-old brandished his knife towards Philip Barber at the Mamas and Papas store in Cardiff on February 23 after he saw the defendant placing items in his rucksack. Mr Barber's eyes met with those of the thief and Misfud started panicking.

The coked up and intoxicated man stabbed his friend in the face with a cutlery knife after wetting himself and passing out in his bed. The victim jumped out of a bedroom window to escape his friend for fear he would be stabbed again.

King, 25, had previously thrown a dining table at Luke Lewis before smashing up his home in Maesteg, Bridgend, in the early hours of May 15. Despite being friends for more than 20 years, Mr Lewis said he feared for his life in the company of the defendant, and later told police he had "never been so scared in his life".