THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2015
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Community order for New Year’s Eve assault
A FORMER Pembrokeshire
resident pleaded guilty to two charges of assault before Haverfordwest Magistrates on Tuesday (Jan 27). Danny
Mansel Tucker, who
now resides in Bristol, was charged with beating two people on New Year’s Eve. The 25 year old had been drinking with his father in Haverfordwest before moving on to their planned destination, the Druidstone Hotel. Tucker became separated from his father and took a taxi to the hotel. It was here Ellie Morgan, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was
very intoxicated, and was
offered help by the manager of the hotel and another worker. “The defendant head butted the manager and repeatedly tapped a full can of beer on the face of the other member of staff. These incidents caused the manager to have a black eye, and the other member of staff to have minor swelling around his eye socket.” Defending Tucker was Jonathan Webb who told the court: “The
defendant had been drinking with his father in Haverfordwest, and the two of them had become separated. Mr Tucker knew that they were planning on going to a New Year’s Eve party at the Druidstone Hotel, and he consequently got into a taxi and made his way there. “It
is here where the events happened, as the defendant was frustrated in not finding his father, or the other people he was going to the party with, including his girlfriend. Mr
Tucker has
apologised to the two victims, who have accepted his apology. He also says this is completely against his nature, and was a result of trying to ‘keep up’ with his father whilst drinking.”
The Magistrates’ accepted
Tucker’s guilty plea and sentenced him to a community order of 50 hours of unpaid work. Tucker was also ordered to pay £100 compensation each victim. He was also instructed to pay court costs of £85 and victim surcharge of £60.
15 News Public force Board to listen THERE was unrest at Thursday’s
(Jan 22) Community Health Council engagement meeting as the public forced the Health Board to cut short their presentations. Hywel Dda Chair Bernadine Rees spoke about ‘building a new relationship’ and ‘being open and transparent’ but over an hour had passed before the public got their say.
Community Director for Hywel Dda, Sue Lewis, was halfway through her presentation when when one member of the public got up and shouted: “You’re wasting my breath and I’ve been wasting my time,” before walking out. Moments later, a woman spoke up saying: “This is a complete waste of time. You are like one of those foreign call centres, giving us a list of things that we don’t want to hear and you are ignoring what we want to say to you. You are proposing all these changes and you are here to consult but this is just a PR job. We know about the problems that exist but we are not getting the services we deserve. You have come here with an agenda and you have spoken for a very long time and it’s about time you let the public speak.” That prompted applause from the 100-strong audience and Sue Lewis was forced to cut short her presentation. Another member of the audience
remarked that the Health Board were talking at them and not with them. She
added: “We have come here to talk, not to be lectured.” The Director of Public Health, Theresa Owen, had earlier spoken about leading an active lifestyle but another person added: “We want to know what is happening, we know not to smoke and drink. We came here to find out about the nitty gritty of our Health Board.” One member of the public then went on to speak about the recruitment problems facing Hywel Dda saying: “How can you expect to employ people when they can’t be sure that the job they have is secure?”
Chief Executive Steve Moore responded and talked about a vibrant future for Withybush and added that they needed to assure people that they are putting quality and safety in to everything that they do. He also said that they were looking at bringing care closer to people who live in rural communities. Another member later added: “In terms of recruitment, why are these people who are showing interest not getting the job?”
Speaking about the problems facing the ambulance service, one person said: “You treat us as if we don’t know. You can’t have an ambulance that goes to Swansea. You haven’t
considered the
miles they have to travel.” The Head of Operations for Hywel Dda responded saying that they had
considered the miles and also added that six ambulances are on duty in Pembrokeshire and that one of those would be a 24hr vehicle dedicated to Withybush.
Another member of the public talked about the beds in Withybush saying: “There were 384 beds in Withybush when it opened, there are now 120. That is a big bed drop. If you haven’t got a bed there is nowhere to put the patients and this is partly why the ambulance service are overworked.” He went on to say that months were
going by before posts were filled and added that it showed a lack of planning. Finally he asked if they were aware
that nurses were being asked to fill positions in which they were not qualified. Bernadine Rees responded: “We are all here to protect and support safe and quality services in Pembrokeshire. We have to work together. Hywel Dda wants to be an employer of choice. We are supporting Pembrokeshire services and we want to work with all the groups.” Another member of the public responded: “If it wasn’t for those groups (SWAT etc.) the public wouldn’t know. The Health Board haven’t been open and honest about what has happened. We need to see you being honest.”
Bernadine Rees responded: “Nobody is shying away from the fact that we need to change.”
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