Stalker who held woman at gunpoint to be freed from jail despite parole concerns

A stalker who held his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint will be automatically released from prison in February despite a Parole Board panel finding he is not yet safe to live in the community.

Gareth Wyn Jones 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.

The former mechanic will spend five years on licence when he is released from prison.

A Parole Board panel found this month that it would not be safe to release him and that he had never accepted culpability for his crimes.

Probation

But he will automatically be released in February. 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, published on Wednesday, said: “The panel listed as risk factors those influences which made it more likely that Mr Jones would reoffend.

“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.”

Behaviour

While he had engaged well with a programme designed to address his behaviour in relationships, professionals were not supportive of his release at this stage.

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.”

Ms Bragg, from Eryri, north Wales, has previously spoken publicly about her ordeal after ending their five-year coercive relationship, when he began harassing her and her four children.

She reported Jones to the police and he was arrested three times and had his legally held guns taken away but no further action was taken and his firearms were returned.

Prosecutors later admitted they could have charged Jones three months earlier with harassment and spared Ms Bragg her gunpoint ordeal.

Jones was given an extended determinate sentence, where an offender receives a fixed jail term and an extended period on licence after their release.

These cases are usually considered by the Parole Board around two-thirds into the prison sentence, in this case 18 months before release, but the process of gathering reports, speaking to witnesses and holding any oral hearing can take several months.