Western Mail
The last moments of shamed singer Ian Watkins
APRISONER accused of murdering paedophile Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins told jail staff: “If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous,” prosecutors have told a jury. Former rock star Watkins was stabbed to death in his cell at...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WHY WALES COULD FACE DEMOCRACY TRUST CRISIS AFTER MAY 7
ONE of Wales’ leading political experts has warned the nation may face a crisis of confidence in the electoral system after next month’s Senedd Election. Dr Jac Larner, of Cardiff University, fears that Reform may be the largest party after the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
A BRILLIANTLY “subversive” statue of Monty Python star Terry Jones was unveiled on the beach near his hometown of Colwyn Bay on Saturday. Hundreds turned out in glorious sunshine after more than £120,000 was raised to immortalise the comic genius in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Missed targets for NHS deal blow to Welsh Labour
THE Welsh Government will miss key NHS waiting time targets, latest data shows. With just two weeks to go before the Senedd election, this is the last monthly data being released ahead of polling day. In April 2025, Welsh Government published details...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PUFFIN NUMBERS AT RECORD LEVELS ON WELSH ISLAND
ARECORD number of puffins have been recorded on Skomer Island, an internationally important island for seabirds, conservationists have said. The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) said it had recorded 52,019 puffins in this year’s count on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘This is about people’s livelihoods’ – green energy firm risked spreading bovine TB across Wales, High Court told
WORKERS for a green energy company planning new electricity pylons across Wales risked spreading disease among cattle by entering lands “under active bovine TB restrictions”, the High Court has heard. Natalie Barstow, the Campaign for the Protection...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Driver guilty of killing ex-Wales manager in crash
ADRIVER who killed a woman on her way to a Take That concert, and subsequently claimed she had suffered an epileptic seizure at the wheel, has been convicted of causing her death by careless driving. Following a week-long trial, a jury determined that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Race tightening as Plaid lead narrows
PLAID Cymru could be forced to share power in Wales if it wants to govern as a majority, a new poll suggests. The survey puts Plaid Cymru narrowly ahead of Reform to become the largest party in the Senedd after the election on May 7. However, it is...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WRU Y11 deal ‘on brink of collapse’
Y11 Sports & Media’s bid to buy Cardiff Rugby is on the verge of falling through, with the Welsh Rugby Union set to own the club indefinitely. The likely development looks set to be the latest twist in Welsh rugby’s ongoing drama, casting further...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ADORATION AND ABUSE AS FARAGE GOES ON ELECTION TRAIL IN WALES
UNMISTAKABLE in his mustard-coloured corduroy trousers, tweed jacket, broadchecked shirt and tie, Nigel Farage cut a distinctive figure as he made his way up Merthyr Tydfil High Street. With the man he selected to be Reform UK’s Wales leader, former...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Halt space radar over Trump’s hostility’ – Eluned
FIRST Minister Eluned Morgan has called on Keir Starmer to pause plans for a key defence project in Wales due to Donald Trump’s “hostility towards the UK”. Ms Morgan said the United States is “not the partner it once was” and urged the UK Government...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FROM FLANKER TO FLOOR-FILLER – JOSH NAVIDI’S NEW SPIN ON LIFE AFTER RUGBY
IT IS three years since Josh Navidi was forced to bring down the curtain on his rugby career, yet retirement has proved anything but a retreat into quiet obscurity. At 35, he is as industrious and in demand as ever – only now, his stage lies far...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Anger as key Wales cancer facility shut
ACANCER facility in Wales that cost £8m of taxpayer’s money and is vital to pioneering clinical trials has ceased operation, we can reveal. Staff who worked on the Cardiff cyclotron have been laid off – and whistleblowers have accused the Welsh...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Anger over lack of jobs for new nurses
STUDENT nurses across Wales, who have put in thousands of hours of unpaid work and taken out vast student loans, have spoken of their fury and devastation at being told there now aren’t enough jobs for them. A jobs crisis for student nurses about to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Car wash people smugglers jailed
PEOPLE smugglers based at a car wash in Wales who acted as “travel agents” for migrants who were smuggled into Europe by lorry and boat have both been jailed for 19 years each. Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, made several thousands of pounds by...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
We won’t bend to London, says Plaid leader
APLAID Cymru government will not bend to Westminster’s will, the party leader has promised. Speaking at the launch of Plaid’s Senedd election manifesto yesterday, Rhun ap Iorwerth said there will be “no more saying no to Wales” if his party forms a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
JAC’S BACK, SO WHO GETS LEFT OUT?
ANEW road to relieve congestion on the M4 around Newport is now firmly back on the political agenda. The two parties leading in the polls are both going into May’s Senedd election in favour of building a road to take traffic away from the Brynglas...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Cardiff Airport wins £205m subsidy row
THE Welsh Government has seen off a legal challenge from Bristol Airport over plans to provide £205m of subsidy support to Cardiff Airport. The ruling is a major boost for the Rhoose airport as it seeks to expand its passenger numbers and grow non...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Warning as e-bike fires hit record high
E-BIKE and e-scooter fires reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, leading to riders being warned about online marketplaces. Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show 432 e-bike blazes were recorded across the UK...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘You’ve really got to make friends with vegetables’
CHEESE used to be one of Diane Morgan’s great loves – but just four weeks after going vegan, the comedian feels very differently. Best known for playing Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker’s Wipe series and the spinoff Cunk mockumentaries, Diane says...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Union questions cost of school watchdogs
ATEACHERS’ union has questioned the value of what it estimates are tens of millions of pounds spent on education watchdogs in Wales amid a crisis in schools funding. The NASUWT official for Wales claimed there is “little accounting for what that money...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GIFTS FROM THE KING
THE King yesterday distributed Royal Maundy gifts at the annual service, as it was held in Wales for only the second time. Charles, accompanied by the Queen, attended St Asaph Cathedral yesterday for the ceremony, which was last held in Wales in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
No jobs in Wales for new paramedics
NEWLY-QUALIFIED paramedics in Wales have been advised to apply for jobs across the border or abroad because of a hiring freeze. The Welsh Ambulance Service said that it was facing a “difficult financial and operational landscape” as it confirmed that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GREENS WILL BE THE KINGMAKERS IN WALES – POLANSKI
THE leader of the Greens has said his party will be kingmakers in next month’s Senedd election. Speaking at the campaign launch in Jacob’s Market, Cardiff yesterday, Zack Polanski said the Green Party will be open to negotiations with other political...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
COURT REJECTS CARDIFF CITY £100m CLAIM FOR DAMAGES OVER SALA DEATH
CARDIFF City FC’s claim for compensation against Nantes following the death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash has been thrown out by a French court. The tribunal of Nantes, announcing its decision yesterday, ordered Cardiff to pay more than £400,000...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Labour’s time is up, claims Plaid leader
THE battle for power in the Senedd is heating up as Plaid Cymru claims Labour is out of the running to win the May 7 election. The party’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Labour’s time is up, they are now out of the picture – this campaign will be a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WRU chair says he’ll stand down this summer
WELSH Rugby Union chairman Richard Collier-Keywood is to step down in July. Collier-Keywood, who was facing an EGM vote to oust him next month, will depart at the end of his term this summer. The news is a surprise development in Welsh rugby’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Schools ‘in survival mode’ over funding
ONE IN FOUR Welsh schools are overspent, with a combined national deficit of £72m, official figures show. The eye-watering sum comes as headteachers warn they are “in survival mode”, with job cuts, increased class sizes and reduced subject choices in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Son jailed for hammer murder of own mother
ATEENAGER who murdered his mother with a hammer and recorded his attack on a dictaphone has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years and six months. Tristan Roberts, 18, later “boasted” online about the fatal attack on Angela Shellis, a 45-year-old...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A&E waits linked to nearly 1,000 deaths
ALMOST 1,000 people died in Wales last year due to long waits in accident and emergency (A&E), according to new analysis. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said that on average 18 people died each week due to delays in A&E. The RCEM says...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Brace for long-term Iran war, warns PM
BRITAIN must be prepared for the Iran war to continue “for some time”, the Prime Minister has said. Sir Keir Starmer told MPs yesterday it was “hard to answer” how long the crisis would continue and that he had warned his team not to fall into the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BELLAMY TIPS JOHNSON TO FIRE FOR WALES
JEREMIAH Azu is ready to turn his attentions to the summer season after losing his grip on the men’s 60 metres title at the World Indoor Championships. The Welsh sprinter won a surprise gold medal in Nanjing last year but had to settle for an agonising...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Match days are incredible – you can get fresh seafood with rosé!’
GEORGE North has opened up on his “incredible” new life in France, with the Welsh rugby legend getting stuck into the French lifestyle and culture with his wife Becky and their children. It is nearly two years since the 33-year-old left Welsh rugby to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Covid-hit NHS came ‘close to collapse’
IT WAS only the “superhuman” efforts of NHS workers in Wales and around the UK that prevented the health services from collapsing during Covid, the inquiry into the pandemic has concluded. Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett’s report into how the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Steffie’s parents watched her ‘fade away and did nothing’
THE parents of a woman who died in an emaciated state left her to “fade into insignificance”, a court has heard. Steffie Davies, 32, was found dead by paramedics who were called to her home in Pandy, Wrexham, in May 2023, Mold Crown Court heard...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Hospital used tools unsterilised in ops
AMAJOR failing at a Welsh hospital led to 21 patients undergoing operations with unsterilised surgical tools. The Western Mail can today reveal the procedures took place at Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital across two days – February 25 and 26 this year...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Horse trainer guilty of assaulting walker
ACHAMPION horse trainer could be jailed after he was convicted of assaulting a dog walker who was on his land late at night. Richard Williams, 54, repeatedly struck Martin Dandridge, 72, with a hockey stick during a night-time assault. Mr Dandridge,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
No charges over four Army barracks deaths
THE father of a Welsh soldier found dead at an Army barracks has expressed his fury after a sixyear criminal probe into allegations of abuse at the barracks failed to result in a single charge. Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, was one of four...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Reform and Plaid neck and neck – poll
REFORM UK and Plaid Cymru are projected to be tied on 28 seats each in May’s Senedd election with Labour just behind on 26, latest polling shows. The gap between Reform, which launched its manifesto for Wales in Newport on Thursday, and main...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Reform pledge to cut income tax in Wales
NIGEL FARAGE pledged to slash the number of people working for the Welsh Government and to cut income tax as he launched Reform UK’s manifesto in Wales. The party leader spoke at an event in Newport to announce his party’s pledges ahead of the vote on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MP’s husband held in China spy probe
AFORMER Labour special adviser and one-time Welsh police and crime commissioner candidate has been named as one of three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China. David Taylor, the husband of Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid, was special adviser to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MEE SET FOR WALES START – BUT FITNESS FEARS FOR WAINWRIGHT
ELLIS Mee is set to be brought back into Wales’ starting XV to face Ireland on Friday but Aaron Wainwright could yet be ruled out in a hammer blow. Head coach Steve Tandy is expected to make three changes when he announces the side today with Mee, Dan...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Woman died in crash after drivers’ race, court hears
A20-YEAR-OLD woman was killed in a crash after the driver of the car she was travelling in became involved in a “race” which saw him reach speeds of 80mph in a residential area, a court has heard. The driver was left with “life-changing injuries”,...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
Evacuation plan from Middle East
UK OFFICIALS are drawing up plans to evacuate UK nationals from the Middle East as the death toll grows amid continuing Iranian and Israeli strikes. Some 76,000 British nationals are understood to have registered their presence in the Middle East –...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Plaid leader reveals plans for government
PLAID Cymru party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth revealed his plans for government as he addressed party members in the keynote speech at the Plaid Cymru party conference in Newport and hailed the May elections a “generational opportunity”. The man the polls...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PRESENTS FOR A PRINCESS
THE Prince and Princess of Wales made an unscheduled stop to meet well-wishers standing in heavy rain during a visit to Powys ahead of St David’s Day. William and Kate had travelled to The Hanging Gardens, a community hub focused on resilience and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CRAZY DAY SNOOP DOGG CAME TO TOWN
“IACTUALLY went through a few shooting drills with him yesterday”. If the idea of Leon Britton taking Snoop Dogg for a spot of training feels surreal enough, this admission to a member of the gathered press outside the Swansea.com Stadium was merely an...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DRUID’S CALL FOR MUSEUM OF WELSH MYTHS
AWELSH druid has called on ministers to establish a national museum celebrating Welsh mythology. Deborah Rose Hālani said such a facility would thrust Wales on to the global stage while instilling a national sense of belonging. She envisages an...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LAUREN IN BAFTA SUCCESS DELIGHT
ONE Battle After Another was the big winner at the 2026 Bafta Film Awards, where British films Hamnet and I Swear also received plaudits. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film about a washed-up revolutionary searching for his missing teenage daughter won six...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WRU set to face bombshell EGM
THE Welsh Rugby Union is to face a seismic extraordinary general meeting (EGM), with a vote of no confidence in chair Richard CollierKeywood set to be held. Yesterday, it was confirmed that the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union, which represents clubs in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Father murdered by boys in racist attack
TWO teenage boys have been locked up for life for murdering a father who died after being stabbed in the heart during an unprovoked racist attack. Marcus Staniforth, 17, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, approached Kamran...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New £50m deal to boost defence jobs
THOUSANDS of skilled workers in Wales will be involved in the design, testing and manufacture of innovative technologies thanks to a landmark new defence deal. Speaking at Cardiff Castle yesterday, UK Defence Secretary John Healey stressed the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHARLOTTE: I’VE SEEN A LOT OF SUFFERING
CHARLOTTE Church says her outlook on life has been shaped by seeing “a lot of suffering”. Perhaps in response, the Welsh singer-songwriter founded The Dreaming in 2023, a retreat space in rural Wales, focusing on nature, community and sound. “There’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HAWKINS WARNS OF SCOTS’ CENTRE THREAT
UP UNTIL 40-odd years ago, the notion of conceding 40 points in a Test match was something Wales was distinctly unfamiliar with. The national team would go 373 matches at Test level, spanning over a century between 1881 and 1987, before that 40-point...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TANDY CALLS FOR NATIONAL UNITY
THERE has been very little to be positive about for Wales over the past fortnight following two heavy defeats in the opening two rounds of the Six Nations. Things don’t get much easier for Wales, who welcome a Scotland side who put in a sensational...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘STICK WITH US’
DEWI Lake made an impassioned plea for fans to stick with the Wales team following their heavy Six Nations defeat to France yesterday. A crowd of 57,444 were at the Principality Stadium to see Steve Tandy’s side fall to a 54-12 defeat. It was the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CARRE PRIMED TO EXPLODE FOR WALES
WALES are hopeful of getting a permanent defence coach in place by the summer, having conceded 34 tries in Steve Tandy’s first five matches in charge. From the start of the autumn, Wales have shipped just shy of 50 points-a-game, with their defence...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘The light inside him dimmed and his cheeky smile faded’
A TEENAGE soldier found hanged in his barracks having been under stress faced an “impossible working environment”, his family have said. Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Trooper Jack Burnell-Williams, 18, was found dead at Hyde Park Barracks in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Top restaurant’s failings revealed
THE full details behind Wales’ best restaurant’s damning food hygiene rating have been revealed. It cites flies, cross-contamination risks, “significant hazards not identified”, dirty facilities, broken equipment and misinformation, among other...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
