Evan Williams Jailed for Grievous Bodily Harm: Impact on Training Career
Evan Williams has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, bringing a dramatic and damaging chapter in the trainer’s life to a decisive close at Cardiff Crown Court.
The 54-year-old attacked 72-year-old dog walker Martin Dandridge with a hockey stick on an evening in December 2024, wrongly believing him to be a lamper – a type of poacher – and left him with a broken arm.
Recorder Angharad Price did not soften her words as she passed sentence on Tuesday morning.
“This was an appalling offence, causing serious injury,” she told Williams. “It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands.”
Those two lines framed the day. A respected trainer, a violent misjudgment, and a court making it clear that reputation offers no shield from the consequences.
Training future in serious doubt
The impact stretches far beyond the prison term. Williams’ entire training operation now hangs in the balance.
His barrister, David Elias KC, spelled out the stark reality to the court: “If he isn’t there, there is no business.”
Williams’ licence had already been transferred into the name of his wife, Cath, after last month’s conviction. On paper, the yard can continue. In practice, Elias suggested, it may not be so simple.
“It doesn’t matter in whose name the licence is,” he argued, urging the judge to consider a suspended sentence. “It is Evan Williams who brings the racing knowledge and no one else.”
The plea failed. The judge sent Williams to prison, and with that decision the stability of one of Wales’s best-known racing operations was thrown into serious doubt.
A flood of support – and no reprieve
Elias arrived armed with what he called “an unprecedented number of testimonials”. Williams’ solicitors had received 570 character references, with more still arriving as the hearing approached.
Of those, 102 were formally submitted to the court and read by Recorder Price before sentencing. It was an extraordinary volume of support, reflecting the standing Williams has built within the sport over many years.
The weight of those voices could not outweigh the gravity of the offence. The court focused on the violence of the attack, the age of the victim, and the deliberate nature of the assault.
Williams now begins a three-year custodial sentence. His wife holds the licence, the yard faces an uncertain future, and a training career that once looked secure must now fight simply to survive.
