Two men have been jailed after forcing their way into a flat in Milford Haven at 5am, where a man was struck on the head with a wooden bat and a woman was punched in the face.
Daniel Fairlie, 31, of Fleming Crescent, Haverfordwest, was handed three years in prison at Swansea Crown Court. Chad Forrest, 33, of Nelson Avenue, Hakin, received two years and four months.
The sentences
Each man admitted:
- Burglary
- Possessing an offensive weapon in a public place
Fairlie was also being dealt with for a separate burglary on Birch Mead in Milford Haven in October 2023.
Her Honour Judge Catherine Richards made clear that both would face immediate custodial terms. The court was told each will spend one-third of his sentence behind bars, with the remainder served on licence. Both have already been held in custody for several months.
The break-in
The property on Charles Street was targeted at 5am on 26 April 2026.
A man asleep upstairs was woken by noises. He fetched a hockey stick from his kitchen and used it to try to stop the two defendants, and a woman who was with them, from getting through the front door.
He managed to keep them out for a few minutes before the door was kicked in.
The attack
Once inside, Forrest, who was carrying a brown wooden bat, said: “Come on, Piccy, where’s your money?”.
The man tried to get upstairs, where a woman was still asleep, but Forrest chased after him and hit him on the head with the bat. His injuries included cuts, bruising and a lump on the left side of his head.
The woman who had arrived with the defendants told Forrest to leave him alone. He only backed off when the man cried out “I don’t have any money”.
Forrest then went upstairs and punched the second woman in the face. In a brief victim personal statement read to the court by the prosecution, she described the ordeal as horrible, upsetting and a shock.
As he left, Forrest warned the man: “Don’t you tell any fr because we will come back”.
Trying to get away
Both men tried to escape afterwards. Forrest walked towards officers with his hands raised before running off. Fairlie tried to make his way across the roofs of nearby properties but fell.
The pair were later arrested, interviewed and charged.
The 2023 burglary
The woman whose Birch Mead home Fairlie broke into said it had left her feeling frightened in her own home and that she went on to suffer depression, at times having “debated suicide”.
The thought of someone going through her belongings affected her badly, and she is understood to have since moved house.
Records and background
- Fairlie has 17 previous convictions covering 33 offences between 2008 and 2025, 13 of them theft-related. At the time of the Milford Haven break-in, he was serving his most recent sentence, a one-year community order for five theft offences.
- Forrest has ten previous convictions for 18 offences.
The court heard that both men have long histories of drug misuse. Both have jobs arranged and stable accommodation with their parents for when they are released.
