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A Grand National horse trainer has been sentenced to three years in prison after an assault involving a hockey stick. Richard Evan Rhys Williams, aged 54 and commonly known as Evan Williams, was found guilty of viciously attacking Martin Dandridge, who was walking his dog on Williams’s land in Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan. The attack took place at night in December 2024 and resulted in Dandridge sustaining a broken arm.
During the trial at Cardiff Crown Court, the jury reached a verdict in under two hours, convicting Williams of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The court heard that Dandridge, 72, was staying at a nearby holiday cottage and had taken his cockerpoo named Gulliver for a walk within a paddock that forms part of the stable grounds. Because it was dark, he used a torch to light his way. Williams’s estate had experienced issues previously, including unauthorized animals on the land (fly-grazing), as well as hare coursing and poaching. Members of Williams’s family had seen lights on their property and suspected lamping—a practice where bright lights are used to locate animals such as rabbits or foxes, often accompanied by dogs.
Authorities were informed that Williams himself had alerted two police officers while driving toward the paddock, telling them “There’s lampers on my gallops, they are there now.” Upon arriving, Williams noticed the moving lights and the presence of a man and a dog. Concerned that the torchlight might disturb his horses, Williams reportedly shouted for Dandridge to extinguish the light. At the time, Williams managed about 120 horses across two sites. He explained that the flickering light could trigger nervous horses and claimed he was trying to control the dog’s extendable lead. Williams contended that Dandridge’s injuries were caused by his dog pulling on the leash, causing him to fall into a drainage hole. Prosecutor William Bebb dismissed this version as “nonsense,” accusing Williams of acting out of rage motivated by past problems with lampers and intending to punish them.
Speaking in court, Dandridge described the attack in harrowing terms, recalling how Williams wielded the hockey stick with both hands and struck him while he was on his knees holding the dog lead. He said, “I thought, ‘I’m going to die here and there’s nothing I can do.’” The assault lasted about 60 seconds but felt much longer to the victim. In his victim statement, Dandridge expressed how the incident has drastically changed his life: “I was an independent and physically active person who enjoyed my hobbies. But since the attack, I don’t feel like the same person. I still have problems with my left arm and constant pain… is a constant reminder of the assault.”
Williams’s defense lawyer, David Elias KC, emphasized that a custodial sentence would affect more than just Williams and his immediate family, highlighting the roughly 30 people employed by the business, as well as suppliers and horse owners. Elias also noted Williams’s “exemplary character,” supported by 570 character references submitted since the conviction. Williams entered the world of racehorse training in 1996 after managing his family’s dairy farm as a young man. He founded Evan Williams Racing in 2003 and gained recognition as one of Wales’s top trainers, securing five consecutive top-four Grand National finishes at Aintree between 2009 and 2013 and training the 2020 Welsh Grand National winner, Secret Reprieve.
Following the conviction, Williams’s wife took over his training license to ensure the continuity of the business at the beginning of the Cheltenham Festival; however, her license is set to expire shortly, creating uncertainty about the firm’s future. Elias described Williams as the core of the operation, stating there is no suitable replacement to run the large rural employer in the Vale of Glamorgan. The court also heard about the mental health struggles Williams faced due to a recent threatening encounter with poachers on his land who had aimed a shotgun at him and issued threats to burn down his house.
Recorder Angharad Price, who handed down the sentence, acknowledged Williams’s heightened fear and vigilance following the earlier incident with poachers but condemned his actions as unjustifiable. She stated, “This is an appalling offence. You had a choice that night, you could have waited and let the police deal with the situation but instead you urgently raced to the paddock to deal with it yourself. It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands.”
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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