The Crown Prosecution Service has admitted it had enough evidence to charge a stalker three months before he held his former partner hostage at gunpoint for eight hours.
A senior prosecutor conceded Gareth Wyn Jones should have been prosecuted for harassing Rhianon Bragg in north Wales before he ambushed her, and apologised for its failure.
Bragg said that if the CPS had acted as it should, she and her family would have been spared the anguish of Jones’s subsequent violence.
“Everything that followed could have been prevented but instead the CPS essentially facilitated his continual abuse of me and my children,” she added. “The cost of this failure is immense, not just what we went on to suffer – the damage and distress, the enduring effects of that abuse – but also the cost to society and the taxpayer.”
Bragg began a relationship with Jones, a mechanic, after moving to her family’s smallholding in Eryri (Snowdonia).
During the five-year coercive relationship Jones increasingly verbally abused and physically assaulted her, and when she ended the relationship in 2019, began stalking and threatening her. She repeatedly told police he was menacing her and her four children. During this time Jones was arrested three times and his licenced firearms seized, but no further action was taken and his weapons were returned.
In August 2019 he ambushed Bragg and held her at gunpoint for eight hours overnight, releasing her when he was convinced the relationship would continue. The police were called and in February 2020 Jones was sentenced to four and a half years in custody followed by a five-year licence on release.
In May 2019, CPS Direct, part of the CPS, had decided not to charge Jones despite Bragg giving police details of his stalking campaign and Jones confirming his contact with her. Bragg questioned this CPS decision and finally a senior district prosecutor has written to Bragg saying the decision not to charge was a mistake. The letter says: “It is my view that a decision should have been made to charge Mr Jones with harassment … I am very sorry we did not make this decision.”
The prosecutor said it was too late for Bragg to make a formal complaint. He said: “I will ensure the relevant legal manager will carefully discuss the case with the prosecutor involved and ensure any lessons will be learned.”
Bragg has previously described her fear that she would be a target when Jones is released from prison. She has also revealed that as part of the parole process the Ministry of Justice sent Jones intimate details of the anguish she and her family suffered because of his crimes. The MoJ has said this was an “unacceptable mistake”.
On the assertion by the CPS that it was too late for a formal complaint, Bragg said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous and so deeply insulting. It’s not trauma informed. There should be a state-funded advocate from the outset for victims, someone who is aware of the legal process and able to give support. The defendant is offered a duty solicitor, why should the victim be on the back foot?”
Ann Griffith, a former north Wales deputy police and crime commissioner who has been supporting Bragg informally, described the CPS’s admission as “shocking and dismaying”.
She said: “It strongly suggests that had the charging decision been different Gareth Wyn Jones might have been stopped in his tracks. Rather, he was left to continue his long, systematic, and harrowing campaign of terror. This could have led to catastrophic consequences. To be advised by CPS that she does not qualify to make a complaint is ludicrous.”
A CPS spokesperson said: “The decision in May 2019 not to charge Gareth Wyn Jones with harassment was wrong, we are sorry for this and the distress this has caused the victim. We have ensured lessons are learned. Our prosecutors understand the devastating and lifelong impact domestic abuse and stalking can have on victims.”
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
