Steve Price (Image: South Wales Police)
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A civil engineer who subjected his former partner and her new boyfriend to a campaign of harassment and stalking – and who separately sexually assaulted another woman – has been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court.
Steve Price, 49, of Lon Tan yr Allt, Alltwen, Pontardawe, pleaded guilty to harassment, stalking, and sexual assault on the day his case was due to go to trial.
The stalking and harassment
The court heard that following the breakdown of his relationship in 2023, Price repeatedly found excuses to visit his former partner’s home. He also took to driving slowly past the property with his car window down, staring at the house as he passed.
Prosecutor Alycia Carpanini told the court that when the victim entered a new relationship in June 2024, Price shifted his focus to her new partner. He began appearing at the man’s workplace and home in attempts to provoke a confrontation.
On one occasion, Price made a threatening remark to the new partner, asking: “How would your father feel if you had a cracked skull?”
He also made derogatory comments about the man, the court was told.
The sexual assault
In a separate incident unrelated to the stalking, Price sexually assaulted a woman at a property in the Swansea Valley by touching her breasts and placing his hands down her trouser bottoms.
Impact on the victims
Impact statements read to the court revealed the toll Price’s behaviour had taken. His former partner and her new boyfriend described feeling anxious, stressed, and fearful about what he might do next.
The victim of the sexual assault said she had been left suffering with panic attacks and now struggles to trust people.
Defence and sentencing
Hywel Davies, representing Price, told the court his client “recognises his failings in dealing with the breakdown of the relationship”. He added that Price had already spent seven and a half months on remand in custody.
Price has five previous convictions for eight offences including common assault, criminal damage, and motoring matters.
Judge Geraint Walters said he hoped Price had learned his lesson and told him it was time to “move on” and leave his former partner and her new boyfriend “well alone”.
With a 10% discount applied for his guilty pleas, Price was sentenced to a total of 16 months in prison – eight months for the harassment and stalking offences and eight months for the sexual assault, to run consecutively.
The time he has already served on remand means he is likely to be released in the near future.
Price was also made subject to restraining orders prohibiting him from contacting his victims for five years.
