A stalker who threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend by holding her at gunpoint will be automatically released from prison in February of next year, despite a Parole Board panel finding that he is not yet safe to live in the community, PA has reported.
Gareth Wyn Jones, from Gwynedd, is serving a four-and-a-half-year jail term for holding Rhianon Bragg hostage overnight after she ended their relationship in 2019, stalking her and making threats to kill.
When he is released from prison, the former mechanic will spend five years on licence, which will mean there are conditions he must follow.
What The Parole Board Thinks
However, a Parole Board panel found this month that it would be unsafe to release him and that he had never accepted culpability for his crimes.
Mr Jones will automatically be released in February 2024. He will spend the next five years being managed by probation, with the chance of being recalled to prison if he commits further crimes.
A summary of the panel’s decision was published on Wednesday, November 22. The summary said: “The panel listed as risk factors those influences which made it more likely that Mr Jones would re-offend. At the time of his offending, these risk factors had included his behaviour in intimate relationships and his difficulties in managing conflict.
“Mr Jones had held traditional beliefs around gender roles in relationships and evidenced jealousy and a sense of entitlement. He struggled to cope with problems in his life and saw asking for help as being a sign of weakness.”
Despite engaging well with a programme designed to address his behaviour in relationships, professionals were not in support of his release at this stage.
The panel found that a release plan where he would live in designated accommodation with strict limits on his contacts, movements and activities was not deemed robust enough. The panel concluded: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.”
What Formerly Happened
Rhianon, from Rhosgadfan in Gwynedd, has previously spoken publicly about her ordeal after ending her five-year coercive relationship with Jones when he began harassing her and her four children.
In 2019, he held her hostage at gunpoint for eight hours. It was the final act in a campaign of harassment towards her, which started in April of that year when she ended their five-year relationship.
In December of last year, the Ministry of Justice faced criticism after accidentally sharing intimate details of Rhianon’s anguish with her stalker. You can read more about this.
