Dafydd Griffiths repeatedly breached a restraining order banning him from contacting his ex-partner
A MAN who persistently breached a restraining order which had been imposed after he tried to torch his ex-partner's house has been jailed for two years.
The non-contact order was put in place in 2011 after Dafydd Andrew Griffiths poured flammable liquid through the letterbox of a house his ex-girlfriend was staying in, and ignited it.
Swansea Crown Court heard the 34-year-old had already breached the order five times in the years since when he went to her house in Port Tennant on the evening of December 1.
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Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said Griffiths suddenly appeared at a window of his victim's home, shouting at her.
The woman was too frightened at what he might do to press the panic alarm in house — and instead hid behind a cupboard in the kitchen.
Later she plucked up courage to phone the police who arrived within minutes, and found Griffiths on nearby Kinley Street.
The court heard he initially denied he had been to his ex-partner's house, instead claming he was on the way to dinner at a friend's house and had been to Sainsbury's to buy a pepper.
Griffiths, of The Strand, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order when he appeared in the dock for sentencing today.
The court heard the order had been put in place in 2011 after Andrews had tried to torch a house in Mount Pleasant which was occupied by his ex- and three other people — an accelerant had been poured through the letterbox and set alight. The people in the house were unhurt.
The following year he breached the order for the first time buy writing to his former partner, and that was followed by a series of breaches from phone calls to shouting at her in the street.
Griffiths had only been out of prison for a short while after serving a prison sentence for a previous breach when he went to her Port Tennant house on December 1.
The court heard Griffiths has 33 previous convictions for 64 offences.
Paul Hobson, for Griffiths, said his client was "in increasing danger of completely wasting his life" and now accepted he needed to move on.
His Honour Judge Huw Davies QC told the defendant that restraining orders were to be taken seriously, and he was going to impose a sentence that would act as a deterrent to any future breaching.
He said: "You have shown contempt for the order and contempt for your former partner who wants to live a life free of your attentions."
The judge sentenced Griffiths to two years in prison.
Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Jail-man-repeatedly-breached-restraining-order/story-28442357-detail/story.html#ixzz3vqgq59Sw
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