Man charged with murder of five-month-old baby in Wales
Thomas Morgan, 28, appeared at Swansea Magistrates' Court over the death of Jensen-Lee Dougal in Clydach on 30 March last year.
Morgan, of Gorseinon, Swansea, was remanded in custody, South Wales Police said.
He is due to appear at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.
Please refresh the page for the latest version.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
18 minutes ago
- The Sun
My brother was knifed to death at home by his pal…court ‘loophole' meant we never got justice & killer struck AGAIN
WAYNE Keenan's body was draped over a breakfast bar in his Blackpool flat, where he'd been stabbed multiple times. His pal Mark Oldfield had fled the scene, just yards from a police station, but two days later would hand himself in before being charged with murder. 8 8 8 But in the middle of his trial the judge gave the jury the option to try him for the now defunct charge of manslaughter by provocation instead. They took up the offer and Oldfield, from Leeds, was sentenced to just seven years in prison, and after early release would go on to viciously attack his next door neighbour with a pizza cutter - as well as at least one other offence with a bladed article. Heartbroken sister Beverley Keenan told The Sun: 'I've spent more than two decades fighting this, trying to understand why it suddenly wasn't considered murder. He'd been stabbed in the back. 'There was no justice for my brother. I want an apology from the government, because it was their laws that failed to protect him and others in a similar boat.' She added: 'As soon as Mark was released he attacked again.' Beverley says she's never had a clear answer as to what led to her brother's death - and the weapon used was never found. Dad-of-three Wayne - known to friends and family as Joey Evans, having adopted his stepdad's surname and his own middle name - had been allowing Oldfield to stay in his flat on and off when the deadly row erupted on June 4 2000. Joey, 34, had, on a whim, moved to the Lancashire city from Leeds months earlier, after his mum Alison Evans and sisters Beverley and Julie had done the same. His relationship with the mother of his youngest son had broken down and he wanted a fresh start. Beverley explained: 'He turned up on New Years Eve 1999 and it was a right shock, because we weren't expecting to see him. 'I'd just moved into a new house, and he came and stayed with us all over New Year. 'We had a lovely time, it was the first time that all the family had been together since we were kids. 'He was gutted because he had three kids in Leeds but needed a fresh start. He planned to move to Blackpool permanently and fight for custody of his youngest, and we were going to help.' Joey signed up to a local job agency and soon found regular work in factories, often working two jobs at once, days and nights. 'He was earning good money and then his mate from Leeds turned up,' explained Beverley. Joey and Oldfield, then 36, stayed at Alison's home in Central Drive before her son found himself a flat on Chapel Street just half a mile away. But by June, Joey and Oldfield's relationship appeared to have soured somewhat, and Beverley believes her brother had not seen his eventual killer much for some time when he arrived suddenly at his flat in the early hours of Sunday, June 4 2000. 'He turned up early Sunday morning, and stabbed Joey at nine o'clock on Sunday night,' she said. 8 8 8 'Joey had had a bath that night, he'd ironed his clothes ready to go to work the next day, before being killed.' Beverley recalls how half an hour after stabbing her brother, Oldfield 'casually' walked past her and sister Julie as they drove back to their mum's home after bingo. 'He was stood looking at me in the car, and because of my arthritis I couldn't wind the window down to ask him where Joey was. 'He was with a girl. We drove round to the back of my mum's old house, and we suddenly couldn't see him anywhere.' What exactly happened during the tragedy is unclear. In her campaign to have the conviction upgraded, Beverley says she was told the court transcripts were destroyed after five years. Reports in the Blackpool Gazette from December 2000, during the trial, say Oldfield alleged his victim had first gone for him with a knife. He claimed Joey had also punched one of several women who were also in the flat at the time and had stepped in. However, Julie Taylor, described as Joey's girlfriend, is reported to have told the court she saw Oldfield raise an arm and stab his victim four times. While giving evidence, Oldfield had told the court how he and Joey had spent the day drinking and watching Formula One on the TV. One article adds the defendant said he must have later fallen asleep and that on waking he heard screaming and crying. 8 8 It says: 'Oldfield told the court he saw Joey punching someone called Mandy. The defendant said he took hold of him and dragged him into the hallway.' However, Joey allegedly broke loose and headed back to the living room. Oldfield said: 'Joey came back into the room. I saw a knife in the right hand. I thought he had run on to the knife [sic]. 'From listening to the forensic pathologist I now believe I must have lunged at him and stabbed him in the chest, thinking he was going to stab me.' In another article, the court is reported to have heard Oldfield claimed he was acting in self defence and had actually grabbed a knife from the coffee table after fearing Joey was going to arm himself, and used it to kill his friend. In an article from December 23 2000, the day after Oldfield was sentenced for manslaughter by provocation, Beverley was reported as saying: 'Oldfield was known as Rampton in Leeds and butchered my brother. 'I am considering appealing to the Home Secretary about the leniency of the sentence.' Mum Alison - who passed away in 2010 - had said: 'How in God's name could the judge sentence him to only seven years? 'He could be out walking the streets again in three years.' Referring to the police, she added: 'We feel so let down by them.' Early prison release and subsequent attack Oldfield was released early from prison and in May 2009 was sentenced to eight years in custody for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, having attacked his neighbour with a pizza cutter. Then in May 2011, while still on licence, Oldfield reportedly committed another offence with a bladed article and was given a 10-month prison term. Beverley said: 'How many more times will he escape justice? Does he really have to take another life before someone listens?' She has been campaigning ever since Oldfield was jailed for her brother's killing, for a tougher sentence. 'I started more or less immediately,' she explained. She said she was protesting outside Parliament and several Labour ministers at the time 'all walked past', and she appeared on TV. 'I wrote to everyone in Parliament and got a lot of letters back from a lot of MPs that agreed with me but they said you've got to go through your own. 'My MP tried his best but it's proving it. No solicitor would ever touch it because there'd been a trial. Even though the trial's gone wrong.' The partial defence of provocation in English law, which could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter, was abolished in October 2010. In April 2005 the double jeopardy rule came into effect in the UK, allowing for retrials in cases of very serious offences where new and compelling evidence had emerged after an acquittal or conviction. Beverley said it wasn't until the new law came in that police came to see her, in part because she'd been collecting paperwork from the case, and asked for the court transcripts, which she didn't have. What is manslaughter by provocation and double jeopardy? The partial defence of manslaughter by provocation in English law, which could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter, was abolished in October 2010. In April 2005 the double jeopardy rule came into effect in the UK, allowing for retrials in cases of very serious offences where new and compelling evidence had emerged after an acquittal or conviction. 'They said 'we're going to try him on double jeopardy'. Beverley continued: 'They knew he'd murdered Joey, they knew it. I tried to get the transcripts but they said we've destroyed them after five years. 'You can find transcripts online from decades ago but Joey's have been destroyed after five years.' Despite being on benefits at the time, she managed to save up the £5,000 needed to receive the transcripts before finding out they'd been destroyed. She said police said, in the end, the potential for a new trial fell through on the basis of this. 'Really you'd think they'd do a new inquiry again,' she continued. 'The police said they were underfunded and couldn't keep going back and forth to Leeds. And that was that.' She went on to say: 'I seem to have missed out every which way but loose. Every which way I go I hit a brick wall.' She added: 'At the end of the day, it's us who are the victims, us who serve the life sentence, not them who do it.' Having suffered a number of health setbacks, Beverley said her campaign has now been reinvigorated. I seem to have missed out every which way but loose. Every which way I go I hit a brick wall. At the end of the day, it's us who are the victims, us who serve the life sentence, not them who do it. Beverley Keenansister of tragic Joey Evans Mum Alison died from brain cancer in 2010, while Beverley herself has struggled with rheumatoid arthritis since she was a baby. 'In the last 10 years I've had my two new hips and two new knees, I've had a lot going on in my life,' she explained. 'But the other day I just thought I should really get an apology off the government. 'That manslaughter with provocation was a mess, they knew it was a mess, they've admitted it was a mess, and that's the reason they abolished it because they knew murderers were getting away with murder.' She added: 'I would like other victims in this situation to come forward. 'I'd love to get a group of us together like the Post Office crew, because someone needs holding accountable for this farce. It should never have happened.' Attorney General In an email from MP Chris Webb to Beverley in January, seen by The Sun, he told her: 'Provocation law, as it stood, was widely criticised for being outdated and susceptible to misuse. 'While its intent was to address specific circumstances, its application in other cases, including the ones you've described, led to unjust outcomes that failed to reflect the gravity of the crimes committed. 'I agree that the government must not acknowledge the failures of the past without fully examining their consequences and offering both accountability and redress.' As a result, he wrote to the Attorney General on her behalf to 'highlight the importance of this issue'. In April, Mr Webb then forwarded his response from Sarah Sackman KC, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, who said the correspondence had been transferred to the Ministry of Justice. She said: 'You and your constituents may be interested to learn about the 'Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) Scheme' where the Attorney General can refer certain serious offences sentenced in the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal if they believe they might be unduly lenient. 'The Court of Appeal will then review the sentence and may decide to dismiss and replace it with a sentence that it considers more appropriate.' However, she warned: 'The bar to increasing a sentence is a very high one. 'The Court of Appeal will only grant permission to refer a sentence in exceptional circumstances: for example, if the judge has made some gross error, or has passed a sentence that falls outside the range of available and reasonably appropriate sentences.' She added the independent Law Commission are also 'undertaking a review of criminal appeals' and in June launched a public consultation in relation to reforms to the ULS. Lancashire Police declined to comment when approached by The Sun.
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Border Patrol agent shot in the face by illegal immigrant during botched robbery in New York City park
An off-duty Border Patrol agent was shot in the face by an illegal immigrant in a robbery gone wrong - before the agent fired back in dramatic scenes on Saturday. The federal agent, 42, was sitting in Fort Washington Park, Manhattan, when he was approached by two men on a moped attempting to rob him just before midnight. One of the immigrants took out a gun after a brief commotion and fired at the agent, hitting him in the face and left forearm. The victim, who was sitting on a rock with a female friend, quickly reacted and took out his own gun and shot at the two men. The 42-year-old is expected to survive his injuries - but is currently in hospital. His bullets hit a Dominican national, who has been living illegally in the US since 2023. He has been taken into custody. The second suspect has not been found. A crime scene was set up in the early hours of Sunday morning - and police with the NYPD were seen sweeping the park for shell casings and evidence. There is still a large police presence inside the park and underneath the George Washington Bridge. A firearm was found at the scene - as well as a backpack, along with a wallet and jacket. It's unclear who they belonged to. The frightening ordeal comes amid the White House's massive deportation push. Trump is continuing full steam ahead to try and remove the over 10 million migrants who illegally entered the country under President Joe Biden. The Department of Homeland Security said the administration has carried out 239,000 deportations since Trump's inauguration in January. New York City in particular felt the brunt of the immigration crisis over the last four years - with thousands of migrants arriving in the Big Apple seeking shelter and asylum. The Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown was set up as a makeshift registration center and shelter for immigrant families who had arrived in the US through the southern border and made their way to the Democrat city to start their new life.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Man, 31, arrested on suspicion of murder over house fire that killed elderly couple
A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a house fire that killed an elderly couple. Peter Eric Greener, 77, known as Eric, died on July 16 at his home in St Helens alongside his partner Sheila Jackson in the early hours of Tuesday. Merseyside Police say an arrest has now been made and the murder suspect remains in police custody for questioning. The force also confirmed an accelerant had been used to start the blaze in South John Street at around 12.40am on Tuesday, July 15. It comes as the end-terrace home was on fire when firefighters arrived in hopes of rescuing the pair who were rushed to hospital but died the following day. Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson, senior investigating officer, said: 'Although an arrest has been made, I would like to take this opportunity to remind people to pass on information directly to police or anonymously via Crimestoppers, and not to comment or post in any way which jeopardises this ongoing work. 'Extensive inquiries continue, and to that end we are still appealing for anyone with information to come forward, particularly if you live in the area of South John Street and recall seeing or hearing anything suspicious at around the time of the incident. 'Please do not assume what you know has already been reported to us, as we can quickly make that assessment.' On Friday, pictures of the couple, including one showing Mr Greener with his arm around Ms Jackson, were released by their families through the police. Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath said last week it was 'sickening' and 'a truly shocking incident' adding everyone in Merseyside would be 'utterly appalled' at what had happened. The 'lovely couple' had been together for 30 years and have left an 'incredibly close-knit' community struggling to come to terms with their sudden deaths. Neighbours described feeling 'raw' and being 'all gutted' by the tragic event. The couple, who were parents and grandparents, had been living in the property for 15 years prior to their death. One heartbreaking message that accompanied a bunch of roses read: 'There are no words to express the sadness that we feel that this senseless act has happened to two of the loveliest people that we had the pleasure of knowing. 'May you both rest in peace together. 'With all of our love from your neighbours and friends.' Anyone with information has been asked to contact Merseyside Police by calling 101, quoting incident reference 25000580909, or through social media on X @MerPolCC or on Facebook at Merseyside Police Contact Centre. Information can also be given through Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
