Weekly Round-up: Notable Court Cases (March 10

Sexual predators, violent offenders and firearms criminals faced substantial prison sentences across Welsh courts this week. A 66-year-old child rapist received 25 years behind bars, while a former bishop was jailed for historical sexual abuse of a minor. Other cases included a fairground worker who sexually exploited young girls, a man who threatened victims with an imitation firearm, and several violent domestic assaults.

Ronald Keith Richards, 66, from Port Talbot, has been jailed for 25 years after being convicted of 14 counts of child sex offences, including rape of a child under 13, sexual assault, indecent assault and gross indecency. He repeatedly abused two victims, starting when they were aged seven and eight respectively, over multiple years. Richards received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the sex offender register for life.

Anthony Pierce, 84, former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, has been jailed for four years and one month after pleading guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a boy under 16. The abuse, including sexual touching, occurred between 1985-1990 while Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea. Pierce will serve half his sentence in prison and remain on the sex offenders register for life.

Carl Lintern, 42, sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for sexually exploiting young girls while working at Barry Island Pleasure Park. The paedophile groomed victims as young as 11 by giving them gifts, food, alcohol and fairground tokens before adding them on Snapchat. He was convicted of sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13 and sexual assault.

Paul Roberts, 68, from Bontnewydd, Caernarfon, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after police discovered 58,000 child abuse images on his devices, with nearly 400,000 more awaiting categorisation. Roberts possessed a paedophile manual containing sexual abuse instructions. Judge Timothy Petts described it as “possibly the worst case of this sort I have seen.” A sexual harm prevention order was also issued.

Mark Griffiths, 29, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for pointing an imitation firearm at Clive Jones and his mother Jane Brownley in Caernarfon. He threatened them with the words “Are you ready to die?” during the confrontation near Siop Sheena. Mold Crown Court also imposed a five-year restraining order. The imitation weapon was never recovered.

Ryan Watkins, 40, from Newport, has been jailed for 20 months after threatening to kill his mother and violently attacking her neighbour. The incident was sparked when he discovered his mother had no squash during his visit. Watkins punched and kicked Richard Davies who had responded to calls for help. He was also given a five-year restraining order against his mother.

Neil Davies, 25, from Newport, was jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to assault by beating a woman in Cardiff on March 6. The attack occurred while Davies was already serving a suspended sentence for a previous offence. Magistrates also ordered him to pay a £154 victim surcharge following his release.