'Silent man' who has spent a decade repeatedly blocking traffic does it again

Wales Online

5 days ago

'Silent man' who has spent a decade repeatedly blocking traffic does it again
Once arrested for obstructing the highway David Hampson refuses to speak to police officers, lawyers, doctors, court staff, judges, and probation staff. Juries have found he is "mute of malice" not "mute by visitation of God"
David Hampson
(Image: South Wales Police)
A man who has spent more than a decade repeatedly standing in the middle of a busy road until he is arrested and then remaining silent has done it again - just a month after being jailed for his last road-blocking offence.
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David Hampson always choses the same spot for his action, namely the junction outside Swansea Central police station in the middle of Swansea. After being arrested for obstructing the highway the 55-year-old refuses to engage with police officers, lawyers, doctors, court staff, judges, and probation staff, and the reasons for his behaviour remain unknown.
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Over the last 10 years the defendant has sat through multiple trials to determine whether he can talk and is simply choosing not to or whether there is some psychological or physical issue preventing him from speaking - in legal terms to determine whether he is "mute of malice" or "mute by visitation of God" - and trials to determine whether he is guilty to standing in the road. Hampson refuses to enter pleas to any charge, refuses to call any evidence in his defence, and has always remained silent throughout the trials, usually just looking down at the floor of the dock when asked a question.
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Swansea Magistrates Court heard the latest offence happened on June 19 this year when Hampson stood in the middle of De La Beche Street outside Swansea Central police station blocking the traffic until he was arrested. From the point of arrest he refused to speak.
After refusing to enter a plea, a "not guilty" plea was entered on his behalf and he was subsequently convicted at trial of obstructing the highway. The incident happened 28 days after Hampson was sentenced to six months in prison for doing exactly the same thing at the same location.
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David Hampson, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to six months in prison. He will serve no more than half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Swansea Central police station
(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
The defendant has been repeating a similar pattern of road-blocking then remaining silent since 2014 when he was given a two-year conditional discharge for four counts of wilfully obstructing free passage along the highway.
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The following year he was convicted of a public nuisance offence for the same behaviour, and was made the subject of his first criminal behaviour order or 'Crasbo.' However, his behaviour continued and he subsequently received custodial sentences after being convicted of breaching the court order in 2016, 2017 and again in 2018 when he was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
In December 2021 Hampson was again arrested outside Swansea Central police station after he blocked the road at the junction of Mount Pleasant and De La Beche Street. The defendant was initially detained under the Mental Health Act, and once his identity was established from his driving licence he was arrested for breaching the Crasbo.
He made no reply when cautioned nor when he was subsequently charged. He remained silent when he appeared at Swansea Magistrates Court and the case was committed to Swansea Crown Court.
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The defendant remained silent during his appearance at the higher court in May 2022 and refused to talk when asked to enter a plea, meaning a "not guilty" plea was recorded on his behalf and the matter went to trial in July.
Before the jurors could decide whether Hampson had obstructed the highway or not, they had to determine whether he was "mute of malice" or "mute by visitation of god" - that is, whether he could speak and was choosing not to or whether there was some physical or other issue which was preventing him from speaking.
After hearing evidence from prison officers who said defendant had spoken to them while he was an inmate at HMP Swansea the jury found that he was mute of malice and subsequently found that he did carry out the act of blocking the road and breaching his criminal behaviour order.
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Following the jury's findings the judge ordered a psychiatric report into Hampson in the hope it would cast some light on his behaviour and suggest possible help that he could be offered. However, the defendant refused to speak to the court-appointed doctor so no interview could take place.
In response to his non-co-operation, the court ordered that his medical records be produced and given to the psychiatrist so some information about him and his background was known.
The case returned court in the August of that year for a report from the doctor, and the medic concluded that though Hampson's mutism was "selective and deliberate" there may be social or financial "stresses" that contributed to his decision not to talk. The doctor said he was not able to diagnose any psychiatric or other condition and so a hospital order could not be proposed as a way of dealing with the defendant.
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At that hearing judge Huw Rees said there may well be "social stresses" involved in Hampson's decision not to speak but in his view the defendant's silence was the result of "breath-taking arrogance and insolence" on his part. The defendant was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
In October 2023 Hampson returned to the road outside Swansea Central police station and again blocked traffic. Officers took the defendant aside and spoke to him but he did not engage. He was advised to leave the area but he went straight back into the road and so was arrested.
When Hampson appeared before justices charged with obstructing the highway he refused to speak or acknowledge the court and as he did not enter a plea to the charge, a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. The defendant was bailed pending a trial and left the court building and went back to standing in the road. He was arrested again, charged and remanded into custody ahead of a trial.
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Hampson again refused to speak when he appeared in the dock for his trial in December, did not challenge the prosecution case nor put forward any defence, and was convicted of two counts of obstructing the highway. He was sentenced to six months in prison.
After being released from custody he returned to the street outside Swansea Central police station on April 8 this year. Firearms officers escorted the defendant off the road and warned him that if he repeated the behaviour he would be arrested. A short time later the defendant returned to the carriageway and was arrested. The defendant was arrested and taken into the police station and was subsequently granted bail. He returned to the middle of the road and was arrested and remanded into custody.
On June 22 he was convicted of obstructing the highway and was sentenced to six months in prison. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here.