Robbers prowled Swansea streets hunting drunk victims

Two men who went “prowling the streets” of Swansea late at night searching for vulnerable people to rob have been jailed.

Christopher Palmer and Ceri Gibson identified their target in the city centre on 27 January this year – a man who had gone out for the night carrying a large amount of cash from his workplace. The victim, who admitted he was drunk, was “befriended” by the pair on St Helen’s Road, and he even bought them drinks from a late-night shop.

But after spotting how much money he had in his pocket, Palmer and Gibson led him to a quiet street away from CCTV cameras and attacked him. They took their victim to the floor, threatened to stab him if he resisted, and searched his pockets before stealing his cash, phone, and bank cards.

The robbers then made off, leaving their cashless and phoneless victim to walk to his father’s house to raise the alarm. Palmer and Gibson were later seen sitting on stairs in a block of flats in Griffith John Street in Dyfatty dividing up the stolen cash, which amounted to between £700 and £800.

The pair were identified from CCTV footage and arrested. They denied robbery but were convicted at trial at Swansea Crown Court.

In a victim statement read to the court, the man said he felt the defendants had “preyed” on him that night. He described what happened as “embarrassing” as he had always thought he could look after himself. He said he had been left feeling anxious for his daughters if they went out because he now knew how easily people could become victims. He added he had been shocked to learn the defendants had previously carried out a robbery together, saying: “They are not safe to be walking the streets”.

Ceri Gibson, 37, of no fixed abode, has 35 previous convictions for 84 offences, including unlawful wounding, burglary, aggravated burglary, possession of a knife, and a robbery from 2017 committed with co-defendant Palmer. In 2022, he was part of a gang who mugged two schoolboys then used one of them to gain entry to a nearby flat where they assaulted the occupants and stole hundreds of pounds.

Christopher Palmer, 36, of Elan Avenue, Clase, Swansea, has 21 previous convictions for 32 offences including the joint robbery with Gibson.

Andrew Evans, representing Gibson, said adverse childhood experiences “of an extremely personal nature” had shaped how the defendant lived his life, which was characterised by “chaos and drug misuse”. He said Gibson realised that at 37 he needed to make significant changes in the hope he could salvage something from a life that had thus far been largely wasted.

Megan Williams, representing Palmer, said the pre-sentence report showed a different side to her client and detailed that he had previously been in full-time work and been a “positive member of society”. She said Palmer had been out of trouble since 2019 and since being remanded into prison had been drug-free, a state he was determined should continue.

Judge Geraint Walters said it was clear from the evidence he had heard at trial that Gibson and Palmer had been “prowling the streets looking for someone sufficiently drunk to be able to be robbed”. He said the pair had then “apparently befriended” their victim before robbing him, and had been seen “walking merrily away” to Griffith John Street where they divided up the money they had stolen.

He described the robbery as a “shameful act” carried out against a person vulnerable through intoxication and in no position to defend himself.

The judge said Palmer had expressed remorse and a desire to change in his pre-sentence report, and the Probation Service were of the view that he was capable of changing and leading a law-abiding life. This was in contrast with Gibson, who had spent his probation interview “shouting and swearing at the court process” and making threats. The judge noted Gibson did not accept his guilt.

Palmer was sentenced to five years in prison. Gibson was made subject to a nine-year extended sentence as a dangerous offender, comprising six years in prison followed by three years on licence. Gibson can apply to be released after serving two-thirds of the custodial element but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be released.