Grand National horse trainer jailed for beating man with hockey stick

A Grand National trainer has been sentenced to three years in prison for beating a man who was walking a dog on his land with a hockey stick.

Richard Evan Rhys Williams, known as Evan Williams, 54, repeatedly struck Martin Dandridge during the night-time assault in Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan.

Williams broke Dandridge's arm during the attack in December 2024.

Recorder Angharad Price called it "an appalling offence".

In March, a jury at Cardiff Crown Court took one hour 45 minutes to find Williams guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

On the night of the assault, Dandrige, 72, from Swindon, was staying at a holiday cottage near to Williams's racehorse training centre.

He took his cockerpoo, Gulliver, for a walk in a paddock that was part of the stables, and because it was dark he used a torch.

Williams's property has had past incidents of fly-grazing - where animals are left on land without permission - as well as hare coursing and poaching.

The court heard Williams's family spotted the lights on their land and believed Dandridge was lamping, which is when people use bright lights to find animals such as rabbits and foxes, often with a dog.

The court previously heard Williams passed two police officers as he drove to the paddock, telling them: "There's lampers on my gallops, they are there now."

When Williams arrived, the lights began moving towards him and he became aware there was a person and a dog.

Approaching the man, Williams shouted at him to put out his light as he was worried it would upset his horses.

At the time of the offence, Williams was in charge of 120 horses over two locations.

"The light would have been flickering in the stables and that can trigger horses," Williams said.

He said he wanted to get control of the man's dog and was "trying to grab his extendable lead".

Williams maintained Dandridge was hurt after being pulled over on the rough terrain by his out-of-control dog and had fallen into a drainage hole.

But William Bebb, prosecuting, said Williams's account was "nonsense".

"You were filled with rage due to the nature of the background you had with lampers," he said.

"Whether a broken bone or a wound, you wanted to teach those lampers a lesson."

Dandridge told the court he and his wife had been staying at the Gallops holiday cottage for three weeks before the attack, which happened three days before his 71st birthday.

Dandridge said Williams was "holding the hockey stick in both hands".

"I was on my knees with the dog lead in one hand.

"I thought, 'I'm going to die here and there's nothing I can do'."

He described the attack lasting 60 seconds, but said it felt like it was going on forever.

Bebb read out a victim statement from Dandridge, which said: "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."

David Elias KC, defending, said: "A prison sentence will not just impact immediate family but also impact employees, suppliers, and the people who own the horses he trains".

Elias said Williams was of "exemplary character and 570 character references have been received since his conviction".

Williams took over the family dairy farm as an 18-year-old before moving into racehorse training in 1996.

He established Evan Williams Racing in 2003 and became one of Wales' most successful trainers with top-four finishes in five consecutive Grand Nationals at Aintree between 2009 and 2013. He trained Secret Reprieve, which won the 2020 Welsh Grand National at Chepstow.

Williams's business employs about 30 people, and his wife took over his licence a day after he was convicted and at the start of the Cheltenham Festival.

His wife's racing licence will expire at the end of next month and it would not be "viable" for her to run the business.

Elias said "Evan Williams is the business he has the training knowledge and there is no-one else to take over this business" which was described as the biggest rural employer in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The court also heard of Williams's mental health problems which played a part in the assault after he was confronted by poachers on his land six weeks prior to the assault, where he was threatened with a shotgun and was told "they'd burn his house down".

Sentencing Williams, Recorder Angharad Price said she recognised he had "heightened fear and vigilance" following the earlier confrontation with poachers.

But added: "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."