
Last Updated: January 21, 2025
A 45-year-old man has been jailed after a series of offences across Newport, including burglaries at a barber shop and veterinary practice, followed by an assault on a police officer.
Lee Hayes broke into All Trimmed Up and Fields Vets on August 17, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage. While the barber shop raid proved fruitless, he managed to steal £65 from the veterinary practice.
Eight days later, Hayes was found on Loftus Grove wielding a knife and demanding drugs from residents. The court heard he had obtained the weapon after robbing another man of £10 during an attempted drug purchase.
During his arrest, Hayes became violent, attempting to harm himself before assaulting a police officer. “He caused the officer intense pain,” prosecutor Amelia Pike told Cardiff Crown Court. The incident was followed by racial abuse towards another officer in custody.
Hayes’ barrister, Dan Jones, explained: “He was released in May of last year, had difficulties with his accommodation, became, in the council’s view, voluntarily homeless. Having no stable accommodation, he relapsed into the drug addiction that appears to have blighted his life.”
Judge Lucy Crowther stated: “Your life has been fuelled by addiction and committing offences that surrounds that lifestyle.”
Hayes, of Bryn Road, Cefn Fforest, Blackwood, who has 37 previous convictions for 112 offences, was sentenced to 21 months in prison. 👨⚖️