#kenfighill — Public Fediverse posts

Replacement primary school granted planning permission #Bridgend #KenfigHill

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2026/07/replacement-primary-school-granted-planning-permission/

Replacement primary school granted planning permission #Bridgend #KenfigHill

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2026/07/replacement-primary-school-granted-planning-permission/

Replacement primary school granted planning permission #Bridgend #KenfigHill

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2026/07/replacement-primary-school-granted-planning-permission/

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.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

More hate crime coverage from Swansea Bay News
Our reporting on hate crime cases across south-west Wales.

BRIDGEND CHAOS: Three of Reform’s six Pen-y-bont Senedd candidates have quit — and nobody knows who’ll replace them

Reform UK is facing a crisis in Bridgend after three of its six candidates for the area’s Senedd constituency quit in rapid succession — leaving the party without its top two names just weeks before polling day and with no replacements yet announced.

The triple resignation in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg — the new Senedd constituency covering Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan — means it is currently unclear who will represent the party on election day. Nominations close on April 9, and Reform has told the BBC it intends to present a full list.

The first to go was Corey Edwards, who had been placed first on the list and therefore had the best chance of winning a seat for the party. He resigned after a photograph emerged appearing to show him performing a Nazi salute. Nigel Farage initially defended Edwards, claiming he had been impersonating Basil Fawlty. Edwards stood down the following day.

The second resignation came from Derek Roberts, who had been placed second on the list. A Reform source confirmed he had stepped back for “personal reasons” that have not been made public, describing him as an ex-military figure who “remains an active champion for veterans in his community.”

As first and second on a six-seat proportional list, both Edwards and Roberts had a realistic chance of being elected in May. Their departures have stripped the party of its most likely winners in the constituency.

The third candidate to leave was Owain Clatworthy, placed sixth. As Swansea Bay News reported, Clatworthy made history last year when he won the Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr by-election by just 30 votes, becoming Bridgend County Borough Council’s youngest ever councillor at 20 years old. He has now resigned from Reform entirely, saying he will continue to serve his ward as an independent.

In a public statement, Clatworthy cited “poor internal decision making, a lack of discipline and serious concerns around candidate selection,” accusing the party of selecting candidates “with little or no connection to the communities they seek to represent.” Speaking to BBC Wales, he said the Edwards photograph “really did it for me. I can’t support a party that would be happy to back something like that.”

He added: “The country is in a mess and it’s easy to complain and I thought Reform were the answer. From day one, up until now, the way I have been treated, and members and other councillors have been treated by the leadership team, is not good.”

The Pen-y-bont situation is the sharpest expression of a wider problem that has engulfed Reform’s Welsh campaign in recent days. In total, the party has lost four candidates across Wales in a single week — with a further two having withdrawn before the official lists were even published. Patrick Benham-Crosswell, Reform’s fourth-placed candidate in Gŵyr Abertawe, was among those to go — his furious departure, which Swansea Bay News was first to report, saw him accuse the party of taking members and candidates “for granted.” Andrew Barry resigned from the Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr slate and from Reform itself, saying candidates were being “parachuted in” to areas with no connection to them.

The scale of the problem has been confirmed by sources inside the party. A separate source told the BBC that local Reform branches “were in turmoil.” A whistleblower described the vetting process as “expensive, flawed and unprofessional,” and said the system “favours insiders, parachuted candidates and personal connections over local knowledge and competence.”

Even one of the party’s own candidates who survived the process has spoken critically of it. Torfaen Reform councillor Jason O’Connell, who is standing as Reform’s number one candidate in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, told BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement that the vetting had been “brutal” and “intrusive,” saying the party had rejected “genuinely good people” over old social media posts. “We’ve lost that ability to bring them in because, as I said, digital is forever,” he said.

There is also a practical consequence to the resignations beyond the reputational damage. Under the new Welsh voting system, parties are required to put forward full lists of candidates in each constituency. Having fewer than six candidates not only affects a party’s chances of winning seats — it limits how much they are legally allowed to spend on their campaign. Reform has said it will field a full list, but with nominations closing on April 9 and no replacements announced, the clock is ticking.

The turmoil in Bridgend comes as Reform holds significant polling support in the constituency. The party has been targeting working-class communities across south Wales valleys and coastal towns, and polling has projected it as competitive across the region. The question now is whether the chaos in its candidate selection damages that support — or whether, as has happened elsewhere in the UK, voters back the party regardless of the turbulence at the top.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Reform beat Labour by 30 votes in council by-election
Owain Clatworthy’s narrow by-election win that made him Bridgend’s youngest ever councillor — and set him on the path to now quitting Reform.

Swansea Reform UK candidate quits in furious ‘betrayal’ rant – ‘Party has sunk into the sewer!’
The Gŵyr Abertawe resignation Swansea Bay News broke first — one of four Reform departures across Wales in a week.

Reform Senedd hopeful quits party over claims of ‘rigged’ selection process in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion
The selection row that has been spreading across Wales ahead of the May 7 vote.

Plaid Cymru storms ahead as shock Senedd poll predicts political earthquake in Wales
The polling context — and whether Reform’s chaos is showing up in the numbers.

Firefighters and young farmers raise thousands after postman’s near‑fatal heart tear

Fifty‑five‑year‑old Heath Barron, who also served as a retained firefighter, suffered three cardiac episodes in March before being rushed under blue lights to Morriston Hospital.

Doctors later discovered a ventricular septal defect (VSD) — a tear in the wall of his heart — forcing medics to place him in a medically induced coma for four weeks and carry out emergency surgery, including fitting two stents and a closure device.

Now recovering at home, Heath says he owes his life to the cardiac team.

Heath Barron said:

“It all just came out of the blue… I had no idea anything was wrong until I finally went into hospital. The team that treated me were incredible — there are no words to express my gratitude.”

Fire crew walk miles to thank the team who saved their colleague

Determined to give something back, Heath’s fellow firefighters at Kenfig Hill laced up their boots for a sponsored walk all the way to Morriston Hospital.

The challenge raised £7,650, split between the Cardiac Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) and the Cardiac Critical Care Unit.

Heath said the support from his colleagues meant the world as he continues his recovery.

Young Farmers raise £3,500 in memory and gratitude

The Cardiac ITU also received a major boost from Llanddarog Young Farmers’ Club, who raised £3,500 after two members of their community received lifesaving care at the unit.

One was club leader Peter Howells, treated around eight years ago. The other was former member Eifion Davies, who sadly passed away in 2022 after receiving care at the unit.

Club secretary Carys Phillips said:

“The Cardiac unit helped people who helped us, so it’s very close to our hearts. We spent two years fundraising — carol concerts, tractor runs, everything — to thank them for the amazing work they do.”

The money will help fund simulation mannequins, new pulmonary artery catheter monitors and staff training for new dialysis equipment.

Hospital staff say donations help save lives

Senior staff at Morriston’s Cardiac ITU said the donations directly support lifesaving care.

Senior Sister Michelle Porter said:

“Staff work extremely hard to provide high levels of care… charitable funds go a long way to ensuring this continues.”

Matron Manjula Sajeevan said:

“It is humbling to see our patients value the care they received. Their fundraising motivates the team to continue delivering the high standards our patients deserve.”

“Truly inspiring,” says Swansea Bay Health Charity

Lewis Bradley, Charity Manager at Swansea Bay Health Charity, praised both groups for their extraordinary efforts.

Lewis Bradley said:

“Your incredible fundraising and community spirit are truly inspiring. Your generosity will make a real and lasting difference to the patients cared for in these units.”

More health stories from Swansea Bay News

New location for blood tests in Singleton Hospital
Patients are being advised of a change to where routine blood tests are carried out on the Singleton site.

Radiology nurse honoured with special award
A Hywel Dda radiology nurse has been recognised for outstanding service to patients and colleagues.

Swansea mum’s desperate fight for life as fundraiser launched
A community rallies to help a Swansea mum access urgent treatment overseas.

Wales’ postcode lottery of life revealed
New data highlights stark differences in health outcomes depending on where people live in Wales.

A full planning application has been submitted for a £17.5million replacement of Mynydd Cynffig Primary School. #Bridgend #KenfigHill

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2025/01/full-plans-submitted-for-new-primary-school/

A full planning application has been submitted for a £17.5million replacement of Mynydd Cynffig Primary School. #Bridgend #KenfigHill

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2025/01/full-plans-submitted-for-new-primary-school/