My front page story for Saturday’s South Wales Evening Post - A Swansea / Abertawe man poured petrol over the back door, garden, and outdoor hot tub at the family home and tried to light it. In the grand tradition of the CPS a plea to affray was accepted and attempted arson was dropped.

There’s no way the winner of the FIFA Peace Prize can survive this brutal condemnation from Starmer. He might as well leave the White House now. It’s game over. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good morning New York pals. We didn’t want to disturb you but there’s a kidnapped Venezuelan president and First Lady knocking about somewhere so keep an eye

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

Having Grok “apologise” for creating CSAM is like punching someone in the face and then having the Sooty puppet on your fist apologise.

A man beat up his partner after she interrupted his computer gaming session, a court has heard. The assault was one of a number carried out by the 29-year-old during the relationship, including one which left his victim on crutches. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

This is very good.

If this is true, the international unit for measuring the size of things means nothing.

Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of affray after a 17-year-old boy suffered “very serious” injuries in an incident in Landore / Glandŵr in Swansea / Abertawe on New Year’s Eve. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

My front page story for this week’s Llanelli Star - A husband whose wife plotted with her lover to murder him has described her as a “puppet master”.

My front page story for this week’s Carmarthen Journal - A father-and-son team of “cowboy builders” have each been jailed for eight years for bullying, extorting, and scamming homeowners across south west Wales out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

My first front page story of 2026: Thursday’s South Wales Evening Post - A man subjected people in a Swansea / Abertawe shop to a tirade of racist abuse and told them to "go back to your fucking country" and "fucking get back on the boats", a court has heard.

The Telegraph's big book of woke things reaches Zulu (1964)

This year’s mystery runner in the annual Nos Galan race in Aberpennar / Mountain Ash has been revealed as Cymru / Wales’ most capped footballer Jess Fishlock. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

Another year of court reporting done. The best job in local journalism. It’s a huge privilege to do it every day.

My last front page story of 2025: Wednesday’s South Wales Evening Post - A couple carried out a brutal assault on a man in Swansea / Abertawe city centre, repeatedly punching and kicking him in the head and stamping on his groin.

Fascinating thread but I don't feel it's that complicated? This is what happens when you go out of your way to performatively kick your own coalition in the hope of impressing voters who never liked you to start with.

An "arrogant" drugged-up driver changed his clothes at the wheel before crashing into a line of stationary cars on a busy A road, a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A man poured petrol over the family home, back garden, and outdoor hot tub and tried to ignite it with a cigarette lighter before butting his former partner in the face, a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A man repeatedly punched his former girlfriend in the face and beat her with a broom leaving her with a broken nose and black eyes, a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A Blood Bike rider is in a critical condition in hospital after a two-vehicle crash on the A48 near Llanddarog. Police are appealing for witnesses. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

And so, once more, to my beloved Swansea Magistrates Court / Llys Ynadon Abertawe / Grand Palais de Justice sur Tawe.

I used to be Bonnie Tyler’s sister’s milkman.

A man has appeared in court today charged with the Christmas Day murder of former Royal Navy sailor Harry Turner in St Asaph / Llanelwy. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

Police have seized two cars and reported two people for dangerous driving after breaking up a street racing event near the Amazon warehouse in Jersey Marine. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

My front page story for Monday’s South Wales Evening Post - A queue of people withdrawing money from a Swansea / Abertawe cash machine led officers straight to drug dealers, a court has heard.

A council worker subjected people in a shop to a tirade of vile racist abuse and told them to "go home" and "get back on the boats", a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A man has been charged with murder after a 68-year-old man who sustained serious injuries in a Christmas Day “disturbance” in St Asaph / Llanelwy died in hospital. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A couple carried a brutal attack on a man in Swansea / Abertawe city centre by repeatedly punching and kicking him to the head and stamping on his groin, a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

Interesting piece here. As ever, following the money is revealing

My front page story for this weekend’s South Wales Evening Post - Four young cannabis dealers who thought they were “proper little gangsters” with balaclavas and a getaway car were arrested an hour after police started looking for them, a court has heard.

A Russian archaeologist who excavated an ancient Greek site in Ukraine and was subsequently arrested in Poland is at the centre of an intense debate over the role of museums and experts and the role they play in Kremlin war propaganda. (Via BBC News) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Times seems to be jogging merrily along the same path to weirdness that the Telegraph went down.

Honestly also the brass neck of this paper, which cheered this asymmetric trade deal at the time and advocated that Liz Truss, the Cabinet minister who signed it should become *prime minister*.

Happy second anniversary of the Tory government’s announcement that pints of wine could be stocked on Britain’s shelves for the first time ever thanks to Brexit.

We’ve had another bumper crop of cannabis farms found in Wales / Cymru this year. As usual, lots of low-level “gardeners” have been locked up while the organised crime groups which operate the farms remain untroubled by the police. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

Ystradgynlais RFC was forced to close on Boxing Day after an early-hours burglary. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

I totally get the need to grab the YouTube audience. I think it's probably inevitable. But the number of professionally produced podcasts that forget the – usually larger – audio only audience and ruin the core product is truly ridiculous.

Tidy morning down on the Costa del Aberavon.

This is terrific ⬇️

A man wanted for robbing a Swansea / Abertawe convenience store was found hiding in an attic. He refused to come down to waiting officers until he had finished smoking his crack pipe. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A queue of people using a cash machine in Swansea / Abertawe city centre led police to drug dealers selling coke, crack, heroin and ketamine, a court has heard. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

A driver lost control of his car and crashed off the road in a gap between horse riders and a group of cyclists miraculously avoiding both, a court heard. He tested positive for cocaine at the scene but then became “obstructive” and refused to give blood sample www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

They call everyone else snowflakes, but they're one long blizzard of self-loathing and everything triggers them. Strange and inadequate people.

Well, this is all very exciting isn’t it. The Boxing Day Kitchen Table of Crime is now open for all your newsmongering needs.

100 per cent this ⬇️

📻 If you fancy a festive treat this morning, there’s a dramatisation of Dylan Thomas’ wonderful A Child’s Christmas in Wales on Radio4 Extra at 9am. Get the kettle on.

Wishing you all the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fucking Kaye. Nadolig Llawen to you and yours.

Here’s what inmates in Welsh prisons will be eating on Christmas Day. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...