Scott Parry (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
A Swansea man who pulled a machete from his waistband and brandished it during a confrontation in a communal corridor has been jailed after police used facial recognition technology to identify him from CCTV footage.
Scott Parry, 41, of Croft Street, Dyfatty, Swansea, attended a block of flats on Griffiths John Street on the afternoon of February 19 and knocked on the door of one of the properties. A verbal altercation broke out between Parry and the males inside the flat.
The machete
Swansea Crown Court heard Parry then drew a machete from his waistband and waved it around in the corridor while other tenants passed through the communal area. He left the building shortly afterwards.
Officers were alerted and ran CCTV footage from the flats through facial recognition software, which returned a match for Parry. He was arrested but the machete was never recovered and its whereabouts remain unknown.
Shoplifting spree
The court heard that in the week leading up to the armed confrontation, Parry had carried out three shoplifting raids on the same Matalan store in Swansea – on February 12, 16, and 17 – stealing clothes and other items worth more than £600 to fund a crack cocaine addiction.
Parry had previously pleaded guilty to affray, possession of an offensive weapon, and three counts of theft from a shop. He has 42 previous convictions spanning 117 offences, including burglaries, attempted burglaries, shoplifting, handling stolen goods, aggravated vehicle taking, and theft from a person.
Defence arguments
Emily Bennett, representing Parry, told the court her client had gone to the flat because a bank card had been incorrectly sent to the address, and that he found himself confronted by men armed with metal poles. She said Parry understands “he should have thought of an alternative way of resolving the situation”.
The barrister said the Matalan offences had been committed to fund Parry’s crack cocaine addiction following a relapse triggered by the breakdown of a relationship.
Sentencing
Judge Catherine Richards said she was satisfied Parry had intended to cause fear when he brandished the weapon, and noted that any resident of the block could have encountered him in the communal area while he wielded the machete.
The judge said she accepted the shoplifting had been carried out to fund an addiction, but added that such offending contributes to a loss of a feeling of security for shop staff and customers alike.
Judge Richards said that based on everything she had read and heard about Parry, there was no prospect of rehabilitation for him at present, and only immediate custody was appropriate.
With one-third credit for his guilty pleas, Parry was sentenced to a total of 10 months in prison – eight months for the incident at the Griffiths John Street flats and two months for the shoplifting, to run consecutively. He will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
