'I warned authorities about him but nothing happened. Then he went on a rampage'

Wales Online

25-05-2025

'I warned authorities about him but nothing happened. Then he went on a rampage'
Exclusive: A family member of Alexander Dighton believes his near-fatal attack on Talbot Green police was not prevented because of a 'systematic failure'
Alexander Dighton during a social gathering with neighbours
Authorities were repeatedly warned about the views and behaviour of a man who later tried to murder a police officer, WalesOnline can reveal.
On the evening of January 31, while clad in body armour, Alexander Dighton approached Talbot Green police station in Rhondda Cynon Taf with a knife, hatchet, and wooden pole. The 28-year-old threw a Molotov cocktail at a police van, which did not ignite, but he then managed to set another police van alight using petrol.
He smashed the van's windows with the pole before attacking a group of officers who had arrived on the scene.
He swung the pole — which was adapted with metal on the end — at one officer, punched another to the head, and stabbed a third to the leg before finally being restrained. Two of the officers needed hospital treatment. Dighton later pleaded guilty to 10 charges — among them the attempted murder of DC Jack Cotton — and is due to be sentenced next month.
A family member of Dighton has now told us they referred him to the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme more than a year before the attack — but Counter Terrorism Policing Wales found he did not meet the criteria to be included in the programme.
The same relative contacted South Wales Police on January 14 this year with concerns about his behaviour. We understand they also tried to get him support from Rhondda Cynon Taf council's social services around two and a half years ago, and a neighbour of Dighton reportedly made similar unsuccessful efforts with the council in the weeks before the attack.
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The family member drew comparisons to the cases of Jake Davison, who shot five people dead in Plymouth, and Axel Rudakubana, who stabbed three children to death in Southport. "If all these individuals had Prevent referrals in place, why are the police not intervening, when it's the people closest to them making these referrals?" they said.
"This isn't to say police didn't do their job, but it's a systematic failure. It was highlighted to all the right people and it wasn't prevented. It raises the question: are police well-staffed enough? And mental health services that could have helped Alex have been cut.
"This was preventable. There has to be a policy change somewhere with regards to these radicalised individuals. The Prevent referrals are not preventing attacks."
Alexander Dighton, left, as a prize-winning student and, right, in his mugshot after attempting to murder a police officer
Dighton, originally from Aberdare, studied engineering at Neath Port Talbot College and parametric modelling at Coleg y Cymoedd. At the age of 18 he won a Wales-wide competition in advanced mechanical engineering for his computer-aided design of a wobbler engine. At the time, we ran a short piece on Dighton's achievement and he told us he had aspirations to become an engineer in the Royal Air Force.
Around two and a half years ago he was among the first residents to move into Beacon housing association's Cwrt Tafarn estate, a new-build of 26 homes in Llantrisant, where he forged close bonds with a few of his neighbours, who were worried by his consumption of online conspiracy theories.
He engaged little with his family in recent years, and on the occasions they did speak he alarmed them with increasingly anti-authority views.
One family member said Dighton always struggled to understand social interaction. They believe he is autistic, although he did not seek support and did not have a formal diagnosis.
The relative said they warned in the Prevent referral that Dighton had been making Islamophobic comments about the Rotherham child abuse scandal and about "Muslims raping women".
They voiced concern that he was identifying as an 'incel' (a movement of 'involuntarily celibate' men, some of whom have been linked to extreme misogyny and mass killings) and that he felt he would have been "respected as a man and would have had a family" if he lived in the medieval era.
The relative said they told counter-terrorism police that Dighton was severely unwell and on the road to either hurting himself or becoming a mass shooter. We understand police carried out an assessment, including going through Dighton's laptop, but that there was no follow-up action.
Dighton did not speak to his family member about an explicit plan for terrorism but they felt his feelings of frustration towards society had gone through a "clear escalation".
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In the months before the attack he became more erratic, suddenly quitting his job — which involved making inflatable evacuation slides for Cardiff Airport — despite a recent promotion.
Dighton also received a conditional discharge for verbally abusing a local resident who he claimed had been smoking drugs. He complained to neighbours that he had reported the alleged drug use but that police "only see the things they want to see".
Just over a fortnight before the attack, the family member alerted South Wales Police to concerns about Dighton's behaviour. When officers carried out a welfare check at his flat, he reportedly made racist comments about Muslims and police "protecting the wrong people". The family member believes this should have been escalated in light of the earlier Prevent referral.
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A few days later, a neighbour reportedly called social services "begging for help" for Dighton, who had been walking in circles and chanting outside the flats.
The council reportedly responded that they "couldn't do anything" unless Dighton asked for help himself. But the family member said Dighton would never have done so given he "was severely mentally ill and had anti-establishment views".
The Cwrt Tafarn estate in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf
(Image: Conor Gogarty )
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Before moving to Llantrisant, Dighton was living in Preston where he had a mental breakdown and went missing. After resurfacing and finding accommodation at Cwrt Tafarn estate, his family member contacted social services with concerns he was not meeting his own basic needs.
Dighton had been sleeping on the floor and his flat was in disarray. But the council reportedly said they could not intervene because he "did not meet the criteria" as he was holding down a job.
The family member said Dighton posted racist comments on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He had zero followers, though he appeared to pay for a 'blue tick' feature which boosts the reach of posts. His profile's handle was @VulkantheJust, an apparent reference to a Warhammer character, and his bio read: "Dammed [sic] before Birth."
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Although Dighton's posts can no longer be seen because of privacy settings, one post from four days before the attack appeared to refer to the recent death of a 12-year-old black girl who died from an allergic reaction. The wording is not visible, but the post prompted angry replies from X users calling Dighton a "sociopath" who "thinks his failures are somehow the fault of 12-year-old girls".
When we visited the Cwrt Tafarn estate, neighbours told us Dighton could be extremely generous and had "a heart of gold" but that his mental health seemed to suffer from staying up all night on conspiracy-theory websites. "He was on about children getting sex education at the age of three," said one. "He was on about five-year-olds in Germany being taught to w**k. And the police being child molesters and perverts. He told us he was on the dark web and he was 'looking into it deep'.
"He would talk about the government, then move onto the police, and then onto gaming, and then back to paedophiles. He had a massive problem with authority. I would say to him all the time: 'Get off the web. Whatever you're on, get off it.'"
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Wider problems with Prevent
In March the head of Prevent, Michael Stewart, left the role after a damning review found the scheme had "prematurely" closed its case on Axel Rudakubana three years before he went on to murder three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
And in 2023 a review found Prevent had repeatedly "failed" to identify attackers and that there was a "sense of lost purpose" in the strategy. The following year the man who led the review, Sir William Shawcross, said key recommendations had yet to be actioned. In its response at the time, the Home Office said it was implementing them.
The latest stats show Prevent is receiving more referrals but that a smaller percentage of those referrals are being adopted by a multi-agency panel for a potential package of support. In the year ending March 2024, there were 6,922 referrals to Prevent (up 1.5% on the previous year) while 893 individuals were discussed by a multi-agency panel (down 13%) and the number of cases actually adopted also dropped (by 7%).
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In 2021, Jake Davison fatally shot his mother and four other people in Plymouth. He had been referred to Prevent but an inquest jury found "a lack of scrutiny and professional curiosity at all levels".
In the case of Dighton, the Old Bailey heard searches of his home revealed journals containing anti-immigrant ideology. As well as the attempted murder, he has admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Sergeant Richard Coleman, assaulting PC Joshua Emlyn, threatening PC Stephanie Fleming with an adapted wooden pole, attempted arson of a police van, two counts of criminal damage to police property, and possession of an adapted wooden pole, knife and hatchet.
Before a sentence is passed the Old Bailey will hear evidence from the prosecutor to determine whether the attack had a terrorist purpose.
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The Home Office, South Wales Police and Rhondda Cynon Taf council said they would not comment on the case until after sentencing. X has been approached for comment.