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The Sun
3 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
My ex refused to let me end things – when I finally moved on his twisted messages threatened to tear my life apart
HANDS shaking Laura Gumery struggled to comprehend what was on her boyfriend Tom Martin's phone. There they were, the photos she hoped never to see again, the photos her ex had promised to delete but now the intimate images were being used against her. 6 After learning about her new relationship with Tom, her former boyfriend Ian Davis had texted the naked images, alongside sexual messages the pair had once shared, to her new partner in a jealous rage. Davis, 37, tried to claim that Laura, 33, had cheated with him in an attempt to sabotage the new relationship. Thankfully Tom, 38, didn't believe his lies and the pair reported Davis to the police. Now the mum-of-two is sharing her story to raise awareness of revenge porn in a bid to encourage other victims to report their abusers to the police. She says: 'Reporting Ian was the best thing I ever did. 'Taking back control of my life felt amazing. 'Now I want others to not feel ashamed to come forward and seek justice.' Laura, from South Wales, met Davis in 2015, when she was 15 and he was 20. Initially he seemed like the perfect boyfriend, showering her with compliments and buying her gifts and almost instantly declaring his love for her. However, he gradually became more obsessed with the then schoolgirl. Shamed Towie star James Argent threatened with jail if he fails to listen to abuse victims on course after attack on ex She remembers: 'He'd want to talk to me all the time and if I didn't reply straight away he'd bombard me with messages. 'He picked me up from school and I barely saw my friends and family. 'It was suffocating.' By the time she turned 18, Laura ended the relationship. Despite this, Davis begged her to reconsider, even pestering her friends to get Laura to talk to him. But she blocked his number and eventually he left her alone. Five years on in 2015, aged 23, Laura fell pregnant but the father didn't want to be involved. Soon after, Davis got in touch, out of the blue. She remembers: 'He apologised for his behaviour during the relationship. 'Saying he wasn't that person anymore and missed me. 'He wanted another chance. 'Feeling vulnerable at that time, I agreed to try again, he genuinely seemed to have changed. 'I agreed to date again once the baby was born.' At first, things were bliss for the couple as Davis became a loving father-figure to Laura's newborn son. But within seven months, the relationship began to unravel. Often, Davis would go away at the weekends for car rallies and Laura was left to do everything and the couple found themselves arguing constantly. Despite this, in December 2017 the pair got engaged and planned to marry. Only, two years on, in May 2019, Laura was told by a friend that Davis had allegedly cheated while on a trip away. Laura explains: 'I confronted him but he denied it. 'By this point I'd had enough, so I cancelled our wedding and moved out with my son. 'I couldn't trust him. 'I still allowed him to see my son as they had such a close relationship.' When lockdown hit in March 2020, Laura continued to stay in touch with Davis as he still had a hold over her. She remembers: 'He'd turn up at my house unannounced and would text me, asking who I was seeing. 'He would be so jealous if he ever saw a car parked outside mine and was convinced I was still his. 'Sometimes it was easier to go along with it. I got less grief that way. 'Occasionally, I slept with him to keep him off my back so I could have a social life without him. 'I did it to keep him 'happy' so he would let me have a life and stop monitoring me all the time.' During this time, Laura sent Davis two nude pictures of herself taken in her bedroom and they shared a flurry of sexual messages together. With Davis texting her naked pictures of himself too, but Laura deleted them straight away. She explains: 'I wanted to make him believe I was still 'his'. 'Looking back, it was so unhealthy and toxic but I couldn't see a way to break free from his control.' Months later, in April 2021, Laura met her boyfriend, Tom, on a blind date. They hit it off and the following month, he stayed over at Laura's. Only, the next morning, Davis sent her a cryptic message. She says: 'He told me he'd always 'loved me' and that I 'couldn't survive' without him. 'I decided to cut ties with him for good." A year on, in July 2022, Laura received a message on Instagram from Davis. It said: 'Blocking me was the wrong thing to do I've got somethings (sic) your boyfriend should see its (sic) your call now.' After telling her he had nothing to lose, he ordered her to unblock him. Laura says: 'I had no idea what he was talking about and threatened to contact the police if he messaged me or Tom. 'Then I blocked him on Instagram too.' In September that year, Laura discovered she was pregnant. A week later, the day after she celebrated her 31st birthday, Tom called in distress. Laura remembers: 'He told me that Ian had been in touch. 'That he'd sent him two naked pictures of me as well as the sexual conversations we'd had together. 'I immediately felt sick. 'Panic hit me. I thought, 'That's it, Tom's going to leave me.'' With that, Laura rushed home. There, Tom showed her Davis' messages. In one, he'd called her a 'w***e'. She says: 'I was so mortified and ashamed he'd seen the pictures of me. 'Ian had tried to make out I'd cheated on Tom with him. 'I explained that the pictures were sent before we were together and that I hadn't done anything wrong. 'Tom was so calm and supportive, but I knew he was upset. 'Thankfully he believed me. 'I hated Ian for what he'd done and I was terrified he'd posted them elsewhere too. 'He'd completely taken away the joy of our pregnancy news.' WHAT IS REVENGE PORN? Victims have been targeted by revenge porn from their exes, and occasionally third parties, who seek to destroy their reputation or post it as a form of harassment. The posting of revenge porn includes photos and videos of the victim that are posted online without the individual's consent, with one in 25 Americans affected, according to a 2016 article by The Washington Post. Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 are primarily victims of revenge porn, and a study conducted in 2016 found that approximately 10million people, or two percent of the population, had reported they were victims. Revenge porn is not protected under the First Amendment of free speech which does not protect the distribution of private facts, defamation, and child pornography. Under section 230 Communications Decency Act of 1996, websites are considered third parties and not legally liable for content posted online. However, in 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr wrote a letter to Congress requesting websites to be required to take action and hold the third parties accountable for not removing nonconsensual content. In his letter, Barr wrote that technological changes since 1996 have advanced, and the law should be amended to reflect this. He stated that section 230 "shields 'any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers being obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.'" Barr provided reforms to section 230, changing "'otherwise objectionable' with more specific language including 'promoting terrorism or violent extremism, promoting self-harm' and 'unlawful.'" The bill to amend section 230 was brought to the Senate in October 2021 and as of May 2022, it is still being reviewed. Afterwards, Tom told Laura how it was a crime to distribute naked images and explained all about the law on revenge porn. So, the couple reported Davis to the police. Laura says: 'At first I thought Ian hadn't done anything wrong as I didn't think it was illegal to share intimate images with someone you knew. 'But Tom told me it was an offence and reminded me of the Georgia Harrison case.' Georgia's disgraced ex Stephen Bear is currently serving a 21 month prison sentence for voyeurism and sharing a sex tape. Stephen filmed consensual sex with Georgia on CCTV in 2020 then made at least £40,000 on OnlyFans from uploading the clip. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and was slapped with a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting Georgia. TV personality Georgia was among those to call for a change to the legislation. It will now be easier to prosecute people for sharing revenge porn after a change in the law in England and Wales. Revenge porn was criminalised in 2015 but before now prosecutors had to prove there was an intention to cause humiliation or distress, but laws introduced on Tuesday will remove this clause. The day that Laura filed the report an officer came to take Laura's statement. Laura says: 'While the officer asked to see the pictures, he was professional and offered no judgement. 'I was mortified but determined to see Ian punished.' Soon after, Davis was arrested and charged. It took three years to get to court. This month, at Newport Crown Court, Davis was found guilty of sharing an intimate photograph without consent and sharing an intimate photograph without consent while intending to cause harm, distress or humiliation. He was handed a seven month sentence, suspended by one year and a five-year restraining order. Laura says: 'Sharing intimate pictures with others causes lasting damage. 'It harms self-esteem and can ruin family relationships. 'Thankfully Tom has been my rock and supported me throughout. 'Now I teach my boys that when you're going through tough times, don't back away, because, in the end, the person telling the truth always wins.'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
A465 Heads of the Valleys road to fully reopen after 23 years
It's been called the "road from hell" but after 23 years of roadworks and congestion, one of the UK's most expensive and complex road upgrade projects has finally fully last traffic cone and contraflow was removed from the A465 Heads of the Valleys road in south Wales on Friday night after a £2bn upgrade that started back in 28-mile (45km) improvement is designed to bring prosperity to one of the UK's most deprived areas and cut journey times between west Wales and the ministers have said the upgrade will boost the region but opponents have criticised how long it has taken and the "extortionate" price tag. Margaret Thatcher's Conservative UK government initially drew up the upgrade programme in 1990 because of frequent tailbacks and serious crashes on parts of the to turn the road into a full dual carriageway began when Tony Blair was prime minister in after enormous overspends, major delays, a global pandemic and hundreds of carriageway closures, drivers can travel direct between Swansea and Monmouthshire without passing through roadworks for the first time in 23 years. Why were there roadworks on the Heads of the Valleys? The A465 crosses the south Wales coalfields, a national park and in some parts, twists close to people's 70 structures - including more than 40 new bridges and a dozen new junctions - have been built as part of the upgrade. Workers have planted 285,000 trees to mitigate its significant environmental impact - offsetting more than seven million kilograms of CO2 a year - in a country which declared a climate emergency six years including bats, dormice and great crested newts have also been moved."In 50 years' time, experts will look back and say the single biggest thing the Welsh government has done to raise the prospects of Heads of the Valleys communities is building this road," Wales' Transport Secretary Ken Skates previously said."This is about generating jobs, prosperity, opportunities and better connecting and benefiting communities across the region." How much will the Heads of the Valleys roadworks cost? The Heads of the Valleys upgrade had been split into six sections - done from the most to least dangerous for final stages cost £590m to physically build the road but because of the way the project is funded, it will cost £1.4bn - and the Welsh government has not yet paid a final stretch between Dowlais Top in Merthyr Tydfil to Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf is being financed using something called the Mutual Investment Model (MIM) - which is a bit like getting a car on of paying it off in one lump sum, the Welsh government will pay more than £40m a year for 30 years in return for an 11-mile stretch of road that will be maintained by a private firm until it is brought back into public ownership in Cymru has called this way of funding a "waste of public money" and said private firms would "cream off" a "substantial amount of profit". The Welsh Conservatives have said the cost and delays "epitomises Labour's 25 years of failure in Wales" and added the final "gargantuan" cost would have almost covered the scrapped M4 relief road around Newport - where there is about four times more daily Welsh government said without borrowing cash the way it has, it would not have been able to finish the final is because the UK left the European Union in the middle of the entire scheme, meaning access to money that had helped on previous sections was no longer entire cost of the whole 23-year, 28-mile scheme will be about £2bn when everything is Labour Welsh government said it had learned lessons from the project, changing construction contracts and reviewing indicators of contractor performance. 'It was worth it' According to taxi driver Michael Gate from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, it was a "nightmare" travelling between Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil when the roadworks were taking place. "It was really dangerous because it was one lane over there and one lane back," said the 63-year-old who has owned his taxi company since 2005. He added: "Now it's fantastic, it's got to be the best road in Wales. It's money well spent."Meanwhile, Claire Urch, 50, said the work had made journeys shorter but the constantly changing road lay-outs were "very difficult" for her daughter while learning to drive. "I've seen cars driving thinking it's a one-way street because they haven't had any signposting there and it's almost caused an accident on at least two occasions that I've been on there," Ms Urch said, speaking about one diversion by Aberdare. Nikki Webb, 49, lives in Hirwaun which she said had been "stuck right in the middle of it all".She said the work caused "chaos all the time" with lorries coming into the village but felt the "hassle was definitely worth it".Ms Webb added: "You can get to Merthyr so much quicker, I don't find there's traffic like there used to be."Mike Moore, who works as an operation manager for a traffic management company, said dualing the road "only made sense" from a safety point of view. "It's been five years of probably frustration for the public but in reality it pays dividends in the long run," he said. "These things have got to be built."It has come a long way from the start of this year when one affected man from Merthyr Tydfil described the Heads of the Valleys as "like the road from hell". He added: "Not even Chris Rea (singer) would dare come here." "As a whole, the Heads of the Valleys project is one of the UK's biggest road upgrade projects for many years," said Keith Jones of the Institution of Civil Engineers."And what's been so challenging is keeping the existing road operational while the work has gone on in some challenging and bleak terrain." Analysis By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editorSo Wales DOES build roads after all - albeit expensive ones that take a long time to scheme to upgrade the Heads of the Valleys road predates a Welsh government decision to scrap all new major road projects on environmental grounds back in a change of transport secretary from Lee Waters to Ken Skates last year means similar schemes could now happen in the future, if they reflected the climate emergency and were at the forefront of design. Welsh Labour has realised that some of its transport policies including the 20mph speed limit have been economic potential for the road was not lost on one Labour MS who commissioned a report by a think tank into it back in 2021. And with a Senedd election next year, expect Labour to signal the scheme's completion for all they're worth as it loops its way through many of the party's traditional south Wales heartlands.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Shocking moment biker, 21, drags brave police officer across road as he tries to arrest him over dangerous town centre wheelies
This is the shocking moment a reckless biker dragged a brave police officer across a road as he tried to arrest him. Sergeant Tom Brookes asked Scott Ryall, 21, to pull over after he spotted him doing dangerous wheelies in Bargoed town centre in South Wales on April 8. The biker, who had stopped at a traffic light, sped off with the policeman in tow, much to the shock of an onlooking bus driver. After a police chase, the pair eventually crashed into a grass verge. Now dramatic footage has emerged of the incident, which led to Ryall's immediate arrest. The bike could be seen zooming from a side street, across an island of traffic lights and onto a main road, with the brave officer hanging off it. The speeding driver then loses control of the motorcycle as he enters a slip road, with a Gwent Police car in hot pursuit. Ryall then weaves between a road sign and a traffic light before clipping a bin and smashing into a grassy bank, still carrying Sgt Brookes on his bike. The bike seen zooming from a side street, across an island of traffic lights and onto a main road At this point, the police vehicle crosses the main road to catch up with him and assist in the arrest. The force said: 'When [Sgt Brookes] tried to detain the rider, however, the rider accelerated, pulling the officer across the road in front of an onlooking bus driver. 'The bike ended up on a grass verge opposite the junction before Sgt Brookes arrested the rider.' Ryall, of Blackwood, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at Newport Magistrates Court on Thursday. He was handed a suspended sentence but was banned from driving for 15 months and his green Kawasaki was seized and crushed. Speaking after the sentence, Sgt Brookes said: 'Both the rider and I were extremely fortunate that the road wasn't busier at the time. 'The defendant shouldn't have been on the road in the first place, but his reckless and thoughtless riding by pulling wheelies on a main road in a town centre put himself, officers, motorists and pedestrians at risk. 'Our neighbourhood team across Caerphilly north will not tolerate the illegal and dangerous use of off-road vehicles and continue to plan proactive operations to keep roads and rural areas safe and remove these vehicles from our streets.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Man who sold weight loss pills made from poison jailed
A man who sold weight-loss pills online which were made from poison has been jailed for three years. Kyle Enos, 33, was charged with multiple drug offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates' Court earlier this year. Enos, from Maesteg, Bridgend, in South Wales, had previously been in prison for selling fentanyl online. Soon after being released, he bought the drug 2,4-dinotrophenol, or DNP. DNP is an industrial chemical which is poisonous to humans and has been banned for human consumption in the UK. It can cause serious physical side effects and even death in some cases. Enos was arrested by officers from Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, in July 2024 after they received information from the National Crime Agency (NCA). Enos purchased the pure form sodium salt of 2,4-dinitrophenol powder from China via the dark web. He then manufactured the pills using cutting agents and a pill press in his bedroom. He advertised the pills and other regulated medications on a website he created. Enos would ship the products, disguised as vitamins and minerals, both domestically within the UK and internationally. He was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday to 36 months in prison for multiple counts relating to the supply of a regulated substance and failure to comply with a serious crime prevention order. Detective constable Kieran Morris, of Tarian ROCU, said: 'Operation Guazuma was a proactive partnership investigation with the NCA, the National Food Crime Unit, the Ministry of Defence, HM Prison and Probation Service, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, and South Wales Police. 'The swift arrest of Enos and the removal of these poisonous diet pills from the open market was our utmost priority. Enos was supplying the pills with no safety precautions in place, and no advice on dosages. This could have led to buyers becoming extremely ill or even dying. 'Tarian ROCU are committed to safeguarding members of the public not only within our region, but across the United Kingdom and beyond. The sentence handed down to Enos today should serve as a warning to others engaging in similar criminality.'
Sky News
4 days ago
- General
- Sky News
Reward for tortoise, 43, thought to have been stolen
A woman in South Wales, whose 43-year-old tortoise is thought to have been stolen, has issued an appeal to help locate him - more than a month since he was last seen. Ann Thatcher, whose tortoise Sesame went missing from his home in Neath, South Wales, is still hoping to be reunited with her beloved pet. The 76-year-old told Sky News Sesame had been part of her family since he was bought in a shop in Cardiff 43 years ago. "He's been through five cats, two dogs, two daughters, four grandchildren and various members of the family who've loved him and now gone, so he really is a family member," she said. "And I just can't believe somebody has taken him like that with no thought or regard for him or for us." Her young grandson is particularly upset at the thought of Sesame having been taken away. Sesame would spend most of his time out in the garden, before he would "toddle off to his little house" in the evening. While police have been informed, there was "very little they can do" without further evidence, Mrs Thatcher said. She is now offering a £500 reward to anyone who reunites her with her pet tortoise. Sesame, who Mrs Thatcher described as "quite a frisky male", damaged his shell last year and requires medication. "After having him, cared for him after all this time, now he's not going to be so well treated," Mrs Thatcher added. "He obviously isn't, because they don't know him. And that's what bothers me now is that, will he even survive?" A change in the law was introduced in England and Northern Ireland last year, meaning that anyone convicted of stealing a pet in those nations could face up to five years in prison - but it only extends to cat and dog abduction. Pet theft is a criminal offence in Wales but is not covered by the Pet Abduction Act introduced last year. "We're talking about a living thing here, not items," said Mrs Thatcher. "He's older than my youngest daughter. He's grown up with so many people, it's just wrong, it's cruel to take him away."
