Six year sentence for Llanelli assault

A MAN who left a father-of-six with multiple bleeds on the brain after an unprovoked assault in Llanelli has been jailed for six years.

Connor Scott Jones, aged 21, of Y Fan, caused such serious injuries to Paul Williams on April 29, 2019, that the victim’s wife feared he had been stabbed when he returned from a night out.

Unable to recall what had happened, Mr Williams could only tell police he had woken up in a bush near a chapel and stumbled home. He was unaware that he had been assaulted, leaving police with no description of a suspect to look for, or precise area for forensic enquiries.

Using the tiny pieces of information Mr Williams could provide, the investigation team focussed enquiries on the East Gate area of Llanelli, believing he was describing the former Zion Chapel as near where he regained consciousness.

Officers trawled CCTV footage from several cameras in this area in an attempt to identify potential suspects or witnesses to the incident.

T/Detective Inspector Vicky Oliver, of Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Officers carried out the painstaking task of viewing videos covering a timeframe of five hours, and were successful.

“The incident was captured by a camera in Stepney Place and showed a horrific assault on the victim, who was punched once and fell to the ground while his attacker walked away.

“Determined to cause further injury, the defendant – later identified as Connor Jones – returned to the victim to punch him and stamp on his head.

“He then returned to assault the victim for a third time – kicking him to the head as he laid on the ground.

“The trauma caused to the victim was both physical and mental, and he could not bring himself to view this footage for fear of setting back his recovery.”

Jones was identified from the footage and was arrested. He was later charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm, and admitted the offence at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, March 20 where he was jailed for six years.

Mr Williams, who spoke out as part of Dyfed-Powys Police’s Just Walk Away campaign, focussing on the rise of alcohol-fuelled violence, faces the prospect of a long road to full recovery.

Ten months on, he is still living with the effects of the violent assault. He is unable to work or socialise as he used to, and has lost precious bonding experiences with his baby boy.

Speaking after sentencing, he said: “I’m not recovering very well. I have to have further MRI scans, I’ve been referred to a memory loss specialist as I’m forgetting a lot of things, and also a speech specialist because of the injuries I suffered.

“I’ve had a constant headache that has stayed with me since the assault, and I still can’t smell or taste – this has had a horrible effect on me, as I haven’t been able to smell my son who was born in November. I absolutely hate this.”

In the months before the assault, Mr Williams was working hard on setting up a business as a landscape gardener, which he hoped would support his wife and children. Now, however, he is unable to work.

“It’s had a massive impact on my job as I’m not able to do anything that I’ve done in the past like heavy lifting or heavy work,” he said.

“It’s affected my social life as I still haven’t been out to town as I get flashbacks, and I’ve had to give up the gym, which I used to love for body building.

“I’m no longer allowed to do the things I loved doing before all this happened.”