KENFIG HILL: Man given suspended sentence after antisemitic Holocaust message to family member

A man from Kenfig Hill in Bridgend County has been given a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to sending an antisemitic message to a family member that referred to people being burned in the Holocaust.

Jack Sweetland, 31, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced on 13 May.

His original six-week prison sentence was uplifted to 10 weeks, suspended for 12 months, after the court found the evidence demonstrated the offence was motivated by hostility around antisemitism and disability.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Sweetland was made the subject of a two-year restraining order. He was ordered to pay £85 in costs, a £154 victim surcharge and £500 in compensation.

The offence took place on 23 December last year.

A two-protected-characteristic uplift

The case is unusual in that the sentence uplift reflected hostility on two grounds rather than one. The Crown Prosecution Service said the evidence demonstrated the offence was motivated by hostility on both an antisemitic and a disability basis.

Under hate crime sentencing rules in England and Wales, when any criminal offence is proved to have involved hostility towards a protected characteristic, the court must treat it as more serious. The underlying offence itself remains the same, but judges are required to increase the sentence to reflect the additional harm caused.

The CPS has not disclosed details of the family relationship or the identity of the victim.

CPS statement

Ryan Colamazza, Senior Crown Prosecutor and Hate Crime Coordinator at CPS Cymru-Wales, said hate crime had a devastating impact not only on individual victims but also on the wider communities it targets.

“Antisemitism and all other forms of hatred have no place in our society, and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute these offences whenever the legal test is met,” he said.

“We work closely with the police and our criminal justice partners to ensure that offenders are brought to justice and that the courts are made aware of any hostility shown as part of an offence.”

Reporting hate crime

Hate crime is a criminal offence committed against a person or property which is motivated by hostility based on a protected characteristic. The five recognised strands are race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity.

Members of the public who wish to report a hate crime can contact South Wales Police on 101 in non-emergencies, or 999 in an emergency. Reports can also be made online via True Vision at report-it.org.uk, including anonymously.

Support for victims of hate crime in Wales is available through Victim Support Cymru on 0300 303 0161.

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Bridgend woman admits selling fake Taylor Swift tickets

Amy Rees, 38, from Nantymoel, appeared before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court where she pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud. The offences, which targeted buyers across the UK, took place between September 2023 and June 2024 and totalled more than £2,800. One victim lost £623.

Rees spoke only to confirm her details before entering guilty pleas to each charge.

Her solicitor told the court she had previously been of “clean character”. Magistrates ordered a pre‑sentence report and granted her unconditional bail. Sentencing is provisionally listed for 10 March at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

Swift’s Cardiff show at the Principality Stadium in June 2024 was one of the most in‑demand dates of the global Eras Tour, with tickets selling out instantly and some resale prices reaching thousands of pounds.

Tickets for a night Wales will never forget

The case comes months after Taylor Swift’s record‑breaking Cardiff date in June 2024 — a night that sold out instantly and left thousands scrambling for tickets, with some resale prices reaching eye‑watering levels.

For the 67,000 fans who made it inside the Principality Stadium, the show became an instant piece of Welsh pop‑culture history.

Swift opened by greeting the crowd in Welsh — “Croeso i daith Eras” — sparking a roar that shook the stadium. She sprinkled Cymraeg throughout the night, closing her three‑hour set with “diolch o galon”, a moment that sent social media into meltdown.

A show full of Welsh nods

Fans also spotted what they believed was a tribute to the Welsh flag when Swift appeared in a glittering red‑and‑green two‑piece during her 1989 section. Even Urdd Gobaith Cymru joined in the fun online, jokingly comparing her outfit to their mascot, Mistar Urdd.

She also treated the crowd to a run of surprise songs, including a mash‑up featuring a track she had never performed live before — a moment that left fans screaming.

A night of emotion — and even a proposal

The Cardiff show also delivered the kind of heart‑warming scenes Swifties have come to expect.

Seven‑year‑old Evie from Swindon was chosen to receive Swift’s signed “22” hat, bursting into tears as the star placed it on her head to a stadium‑wide cheer.

And during Love Story, Cardiff apprentice electrician Paul Ward dropped to one knee and proposed to his partner Hollie Randall — a moment he described as “electric” as thousands of fans around them screamed in celebration.

Fraud case highlights the risks fans faced

With demand at fever pitch, police and consumer groups repeatedly warned fans to be cautious when buying tickets. Rees’s guilty pleas now confirm that at least a dozen people were caught out by fake offers during the scramble to see one of the world’s biggest artists.

She will return to Cardiff Magistrates’ Court for sentencing next month.

Former Bridgend MP appears in court over alleged false passport

Wallis, 41, of Butetown, Cardiff, represented Bridgend from 2019 to 2024 and became the first openly transgender MP in the House of Commons in 2022. She appeared in court on Monday, 21 July, representing herself.

The charge — possession of a false passport “without reasonable excuse” — relates to an alleged offence in April 2022, while Wallis was still an MP. Although the charge was not formally read out in court, it had previously been outlined during an earlier hearing at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

During the brief hearing, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff, advised Wallis to seek legal representation or at least initial advice before proceeding. Wallis confirmed that while she is known as Katie, her legal name remains Jamie Wallis. The judge also raised questions about whether a gender recognition certificate had been issued, and whether both names should be used in court documents.

Wallis was released on bail and is scheduled to return to court on 15 August. No plea has been entered, and the prosecution has been ordered to provide hard copies of case papers to the defendant.

The case comes just months after Wallis was sentenced for harassing her ex-wife, following a separate criminal investigation. As previously reported by Swansea Bay News, Wallis was handed a suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of a sustained campaign of harassment.

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