Poacher who took £60k of salmon and trout from Welsh river avoids prison

Emlyn Rees, from Cenarth in Carmarthenshire, ran an illegal fishing operation on the River Teifi. Photograph: Natural Resources Wales

The ringleader of a fish-poaching operation that caused “staggering damage” to salmon and sea trout populations in a Welsh river has avoided prison after a judge expressed regret that he did not have the power to give him a custodial sentence.

Bricklayer Emlyn Rees, 35, from the village of Cenarth in Carmarthenshire, headed an operation that caught 989 sea trout and 302 salmon over seven years.