Katie Kelshaw (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
A woman who pursued people through the streets near a busy Swansea railway station while armed with a kitchen knife has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Katie Kelshaw, 37, of Oystermouth Road, Swansea, had been free from prison for just a week before she began offending again, Swansea Crown Court heard. She admitted five charges including possession of a knife, public disorder, handling stolen goods, racially aggravated disorderly behaviour, and racially aggravated harassment.
The knife incident
On 11 May this year, members of the public dialled 999 to report a disturbance on Tontine Street, close to the High Street railway station in Swansea.
Prosecutor Joseph Hocquard told the court witnesses described a group of people involved in a fight, one of whom was wearing a red coat and holding a knife. The individual in the red coat was identified as Kelshaw, who was seen running after people and chasing them around parked cars while holding a kitchen knife with a blade around eight inches long.
Arrest and racial abuse
Kelshaw was detained later the same day after a further report of disorder on St Helen’s Road. Officers placed her in a spit hood due to her behaviour before transporting her to Swansea Central police station.
Once in custody, she directed racial abuse at a male officer, telling him he had “come over here on boats like the rest of them”.
A subsequent strip search revealed a forged £20 note and three bank cards belonging to other people hidden in her bra.
The stolen card
One of the cardholders told police he had been on The Kingsway in the city centre earlier that day when a man and a woman offered him a sip of a cherry cola drink and a drag on a cigarette. He said he subsequently lost consciousness, and when he came round his bank card was missing.
The prosecution told the court it remained unclear how Kelshaw had come to be in possession of the card. She refused to leave her cell for interview and was released on bail.
Second incident
Kelshaw attracted police attention again in the early hours of 15 July following reports of a disturbance at Topoli’s pizza and kebab takeaway on St Helen’s Road. She had racially abused staff and spat at people after becoming frustrated at the wait for her chip order.
Although she left the premises before officers arrived, she was found nearby following an area search. She ran from approaching officers but was chased and caught. During her arrest, she attempted to spit at officers and was again placed in a spit hood before directing racial and verbal abuse at a female officer and issuing threats.
Criminal history
The court heard Kelshaw has amassed 85 previous convictions covering 172 offences between 2003 and 2026. Her record includes robbery, assaults, possession of controlled drugs, assaulting police officers, and shoplifting. The court was told there are “no significant gaps in offending save for when she is in custody”.
In 2025 she was given four months in prison for punching a stranger in Swansea city centre in the middle of the afternoon while under the influence of drink and drugs. She assaulted three police officers during that arrest, including spitting at one.
Her most recent conviction before the current offences was in January this year, when she received eight months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, and criminal damage. She was on licence for that sentence when she committed the new offences.
Mitigation
Stuart John, defending, told the court Kelshaw had spent her first week out of prison sofa surfing without a permanent place to stay. He said she had replaced an addiction to crack cocaine with one to alcohol, and had little or no recollection of the offences due to her level of intoxication.
The barrister said the person he had observed on the streets of Swansea over the years was markedly different from the “polite and courteous” individual she is when sober. He said his client recognised that she needed a permanent home to play any positive role in the community going forward.
Sentencing
Judge Huw Rees said he had read Kelshaw’s 29-page antecedent record and remarked that the people of Swansea were “fed up” with her offending. He asked what those arriving in Wales from other countries would think upon finding people running through the streets armed with knives.
The judge said he had no doubt Kelshaw could behave reasonably in the cold light of day, but that under the influence of drink or drugs she became “truculent and difficult”.
With a one-third reduction for her guilty pleas, Kelshaw was sentenced to two years in prison. She will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
