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Four in court from Newport, Caerphilly and Rhymney

Four in court from Newport, Caerphilly and Rhymney

The four defendants were accused of shoplifting, drug-driving, and using a phone at the wheel.
Their cases were heard at Newport Magistrates' Court and Cardiff Magistrates' Court.
Here's a round-up of the cases.
Jason Thomas, 37, of Ty Coch in Rhymney, admitted shoplifting and criminal damage.
Thomas was alleged to have stolen £290 of goods from Victoria Garden Centre in Tredegar on November 28.
He was also accused of damaging fencing at the garden centre.
Thomas pleaded guilty to both offences at Newport Magistrates' Court on July 8.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Thomas was granted bail and will return to court on July 30.
Ronald Connors, 50, of Rembrandt Way in Newport, has pleaded guilty to using a phone whilst driving.
Connors was behind the wheel of a Nissan Qashqai on Rembrandt Way on July 25 when he was caught using his mobile phone.
The defendant switched his plea to guilty at Newport Magistrates' Court on July 8.
The case was adjourned, and Connors will be sentenced on July 30.
Rachel Wiegold, 54, of High Street in Abertridwr, went equipped with a de-tagger to McArthur Glen Outlet Village and stole from two shops.
Wiegold was accused of shoplifting £439-worth of items from Cosmetic Co. and clothing valued at £131.98 from Sports Direct on March 27.
She was also charged with going equipped for theft – relating to taking the de-tagger to the shops.
She pleaded guilty to each of the charges, and the case came before Cardiff Magistrates' Court on July 8.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared, and she will return to be sentenced on July 23.
Wiegold was granted bail, and has been banned from entering McArthur Glen.
Craig Roberts, 37, of Chaffinch Way in the Duffryn area of Newport, has pleaded guilty to driving whilst under the influence of drugs.
Roberts was driving Volkswagen Golf on the M4 between junctions 32 and 30 at Cardiff on January 19.
When tested, he recorded having more than 240 micrograms of benzoylecgonine – the main metabolite of cocaine – per litre (µg/L) of blood and 5.7µg/L of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
The legal limits are 50µg/L and 2µg/L respectively.
Roberts pleaded guilty to two charges of drug-driving at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on July 8.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to prepared, and Roberts was hit with an interim driving ban.
The defendant was granted bail and will return to court to be sentenced on August 5.
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Driver who inhaled nitrous oxide before killing man, 81, detained for 11 years
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Driver who inhaled nitrous oxide before killing man, 81, detained for 11 years
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Driver who inhaled nitrous oxide before killing man, 81, detained for 11 years

Cain Byrne, 20, ignored a red light and was well over the 50mph limit when he hit Graham Slinn, 81, throwing him at least 15ft in the air. Sheffield Crown Court heard Byrne, who has never held a driving licence, made no attempt to stop at the crossing and could have been travelling at up to 80mph, according to a witness. On Monday he was sentenced to 11 years and six months' detention in a young offenders institution, with an extended licence period of five years. He was banned from driving for 17 years and eight months. Father-of-two Byrne, of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and a number of other offences at a previous hearing. An earlier hearing was told Mr Slinn had dismounted and was walking across the A57 near Todwick, South Yorkshire, when he was hit by a Volkswagen Golf driven by Byrne. The defendant sped off with two passengers after the collision on April 4, with dashcam footage showing his tyres smoking as he appeared to be trying to control the vehicle. A montage of footage shown in court showed him inhaling nitrous oxide gas from a yellow balloon a number of times as he was driving, both before and after the collision with Mr Slinn. One of these was just moments after he hit the former builder, who helped care for adults with learning disabilities after he retired and was weeks away from celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife Jaqueline. Sentencing Byrne, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said inhaling nitrous oxide was 'an exceptionally dangerous act while driving'. He said Mr Slinn was 'crossing the road entirely lawfully, in accordance with the green light for him', and 'died of injuries inflicted by your truly appalling driving'. The judge said Byrne 'endured a dreadful upbringing' and 'had known very few boundaries' in his life. He told the defendant: 'You are a dangerous offender and the public must be protected from your evident dangerous and ingrained criminal behaviour.' Byrne was due to be sentenced last month but, after hearing about his 'astonishing and appalling' driving record, Judge Richardson said he wanted a report prepared by probation officers. The court heard Byrne had a range of convictions for 27 offences, including dangerous driving, despite having no driving licence. Rebecca Stephens, defending, told the court her client drove off because he believed he had only hit another vehicle with his wing mirror. In a statement read to the judge at an earlier hearing, Mrs Slinn said she and her husband met through a love of cycling and he rode his bike several times a week. He was also a keen singer who would perform in pubs and clubs in Sheffield. Mrs Slinn said: 'Sixty years of marriage, almost, wiped out by the defendant.' After the sentencing, Mr Slinn's daughter Nicola, and son Victor, described their father as 'kind to his core' and said his death was '100% avoidable'. 'On the afternoon of April 4, our dad set out on his bike — something he had loved since his youth, when he used to race. 'Cycling was a lifelong passion and a shared family activity. He always took safety incredibly seriously and had planned his route to stick to quiet lanes and cycle paths. 'Despite taking every possible precaution to stay safe — dismounting at the end of the cycle path, waiting for the lights to change to green for pedestrians, and wheeling his bike across the pedestrian crossing — on the day he died, he was hit at speed by a car driven by someone who just kept going, as if our dad wasn't even there, as if he was nothing. 'But he was there. He was everything to us. He was our dad, our mum's husband of 60 years, a granddad to two teenage girls, and a friend to so many.' In a statement released through Thompsons Solicitors, the family said Mr Slinn's death had left a profound silence at the heart of their home. The family added: 'To lose any loved one is a shock. But to lose someone so vibrant, so active, and to know their death was 100% avoidable is doubly cruel.'

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