Man jailed after violent rage over missing squash drink

A Newport man has been jailed after threatening to kill his mother and violently attacking her neighbour during a fit of rage sparked by the absence of squash at her flat. 😡⚖️

Ryan Watkins, 40, “went berserk” at his mother’s Newport flat when he discovered she didn’t have any squash during his visit. The court heard how Watkins assaulted his mother before destroying her mobile phone by throwing it from her ninth-storey window when she threatened to call police.

Prosecutor Abdallah Barakat told Cardiff Crown Court that Watkins then brutally attacked his mother’s neighbour, Richard Davies, who had responded to calls for help. The defendant “repeatedly punched” Mr Davies before kicking him whilst he was on the floor.

Upon his arrest, Watkins told police: “Have you seen the poor boy I beat up? He came at me fists flying.”

Mr Davies suffered “multiple” cuts to his face, while Watkins’ mother was left with bruises on her arms.

Judge Simon Mills told Watkins: “You completely lost your self-control that day over something as trivial as being told that your mother didn’t have any squash. You had a tantrum. I’m guessing that there may be some lower level mental health problems, maybe drug use, I don’t know. Your behaviour was a total disgrace, absolutely disgraceful.”

The judge added: “You committed the threat to kill offence in the context of you going through the kitchen drawer looking for one. Thank goodness you didn’t get your hands on one or I’ve got no idea what we’d be looking at had you managed to get hold of a knife when you were so badly out of control.”

Watkins, of Palmyra Place, Newport, admitted making a threat to kill, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault by beating and causing criminal damage. The court heard he has 14 previous convictions for 30 offences, including a previous assault on his mother in 2016.

He was sentenced to 20 months in prison and made subject to a five-year restraining order prohibiting contact with his mother. He will also have to pay a victim surcharge following his release.