5 days ago
‘Silent man' convicted 12 times for standing in middle of road
A traffic pest known as the 'Silent Man' because he stands quietly in the middle of busy roads has been arrested again – 28 days after being freed from jail for the same crime.
David Hampson, 54, has refused to explain why he has blocked traffic on Grove Place Road outside Swansea Central Police station since 2014.
Hampson has been convicted of the same offence 12 times and has been repeatedly jailed.
He refuses to explain himself to police, judges, or psychiatrists and will not speak to confirm his name in court.
Swansea Magistrates' Court heard he was jailed for six months in April of this year but was freed from prison early.
Just 28 days after his sentence Hampson carried out the same crime at the same location and was arrested on June 19.
Hampson again refused to speak to anyone and was jailed again for six months.
A court previously placed him under a criminal behaviour order banning him from blocking the highway without lawful authority, but he carried on.
At his previous hearing for his April crimes Hampson refused to speak in Swansea magistrates court when accused of two counts of wilfully obstructing the highway.
He refused legal advice or a solicitor and did not plea in his continuing campaign of silence.
Sam Jenkins, prosecuting, said firearms officers spoke to the defendant when he was seen on April 8.
He said: 'The officers escorted the defendant off the road and warned him that if he repeated the behaviour he would be arrested.'
Just minutes later he was seen again and was arrested before being bailed.
Hampson returned the next day to do the same thing and was arrested to be kept in custody.
District judge Christopher James said Hampson had returned to the road after the first warning by firearms officers so his behaviour was 'clearly wilful'.
Hampson, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of wilfully obstructing the highway contrary to section 137 of the Highways Act 1980.
The district judge asked Hampson if there was anything he wanted to say. But he stared at the floor of the dock and remained silent.
Hampson was sentenced to six months in prison for his 11th conviction.
'Spoilt brat'
After an earlier conviction his brother John reportedly said: 'He's not really mute. He never stops talking. It is quite simple really. He's a spoilt brat.
'There is nothing like a protest going on. He just does it to have a comfy life inside prison.'
John, from Swansea, added: 'There is nothing wrong with him. He acts dumb but I can tell you that he is not.'
He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in 2021 after a jury found he was 'mute of malice' not 'mute by visitation of God'.
His first conviction was in 2014 – then others in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2025 with 11. He speaks to prison officers but refuses with police, court and doctors.
A judge even ordered a psychiatric report be made into Hampson's behaviour, but he refused to speak to the doctors.
