A man accused of playing a key role in the Ely riots, who was also claimed to have called police trying to calm disorder “rapists” and “dirty little c****”, broke down in the dock today as he described the scene following a crash which killed two teenagers.
Ashdon O’Dare, of Penygarn Road, Ely, is accused of “striking the match that lit the fuse” when rioting broke out in Ely following the deaths of two teenagers.
Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed on May 22, 2023, after their e-bike crashed in the Cardiff suburb. The boys’ deaths sparked hours of violence and vandalism with around 150 people turning up to riot.
Questioned today, February 4, by defence barrister Zoe Laugharne, he was asked what he saw when he arrived at the scene of the boys’ deaths.
Ms Laugharne said: “What did you see?”
The defendant then broke down into tears.
He said: “I don’t want to tell you what I seen, I seen them laying there on the floor.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Who do you mean?”
O’Dare said: “The deceased laying on the floor.”
The defendant, who had explained earlier how his stepdad was godfather to Harvey Evans and how he was close to both boys, was asked to describe how he felt at the time.
O’Dare said: “Emotional and distressed… The scene I was looking at was just tragic so I was emotional at the time. There was a lot going. It was overwhelming. It was so tragic.”
Ms Laugharne asked him about rumours circulating following the incident and the nature of them.
O’Dare replied: “That they could have been knocked over.”
She continued her questioning, saying: “You’re heard shouting, ‘It’s his dad you f****** muppets, whatever you want you f****** muppets’. Can you remember why you said these things?” O’Dare said: “No.”
“You were heard saying, ‘You bunch of rapists’. Why did you say that?,” asked Ms Laugharne. O’Dare said: “I was overwhelmed and stressed. I’m sorry about the language I used”
The barrister then asked him: “Do you think it’s acceptable to call police officers these names?” O’Dare said: “No.”
“How do you feel about that now?,” she pressed. O’Dare said: “Not good.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You said what if it was your kids or family. Why did you say that?” O’Dare said: “I’m not too sure… (I was) traumatised, stressed, overwhelmed.”
The defendant was asked why he decided to leave the scene of the riot.
O’Dare said: “Because I wanted to go home and support my family.”
She asked him if at any stage he had encouraged the people around him, committed any acts of violence, encouraged others to commit acts of violence, encouraged others to throw anything at the police, or throw anything at the police himself. O’Dare replied “no” in each instance.
The defendant was then cross-examined by prosecution barrister Matthew Cobbe about his behaviour at the scene, including why he called police officers “rapists” and “dirty little c****”. O’Dare replied saying he was “stressed and emotional” at the time but “didn’t want to hurt anybody”.
Opening the case on Monday (February 2), Mr Cobbe said O’Dare became “aggressively vocal and confrontational” at the scene and was “one of the most prominent during the early stages”.
Mr Cobbe added: “He left early, but only after the bottles had started to be thrown – the riot had started.
“He was instrumental in striking the match that lit the fuse. Leaving before the riot had fully taken hold does not make him any less responsible for the part he played in this riot. It is no defence that he left before the riot he encouraged fully took hold.
“The riot had started – he had helped start it.”
Michaela Gonzales, 37, of Plymouth Wood Close, Ely, was also due to stand trial at Newport Crown Court having been charged with rioting, but changed her plea to guilty on Monday morning. She was remanded on bail and will be sentenced on June 8.
O’Dare denies one charge of rioting. The trial continues.
Live updates to follow below:
Ashdon O’Dare has now finished his evidence and the defence has closed its case.
Unfortunately there were connection issues with the courtroom which meant we were unable to hear the rest of O’Dare’s evidence.
The trial has been adjourned until tomorrow morning.
The defendant was asked about his behaviour at the scene.
O’Dare said: “Stress and overwhelming of the situation
Mr Cobbe said: “Is it because there were people around you and you wanted to be heard abusing the police?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Mr Cobbe said: “Why did you call them rapists?”
O’Dare said: “I didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
Mr Cobbe said: “You didn’t think the police were rapists, so what reaction were you hoping to get?”
O’Dare said: “It was a stressful time.”
Mr Cobbe said: “You’re particularly vocal at the time, making yourself heard above others.”
O’Dare said: “I didn’t mean to.”
Mr Cobbe said: “Why did you call them dirty little c****?”
O’Dare said: “I was stressed and emotional at the time.”
Mr Cobbe said: “Did you know the boys were deceased?”
O’Dare said: “Yes.”
Mr Cobbe said: “You were calling (the police) rapists and c****. Why?”
O’Dare said: “I was stressed and emotional.”
Mr Cobbe said: “Were you trying to justify abusive behaviour?”
O’Dare said: “I’m not too sure to be honest.”
Mr Cobbe said: “Do you agree it was to cause some sort of reaction?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Mr Cobbe said: “It was for the benefit of others about how hostile you were towards the police?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
The trial adjourns for lunch and will resume at 2pm.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe begins his cross examination of O’Dare.
He said: “You recognised the police and emergency services were there to help and the police were right to make space to do the work they needed to do?”
O’Dare said: “Yes.”
Mr Cobbe said: “You didn’t think members of the public should be able to walk into such a scene?”
O’Dare said: “Correct.”
Mr Cobbe said: “When you arrived you had no criticism of the police did you? Were you angry at the police when you arrived?”
O’Dare said: “I was emotional.”
Mr Cobbe said: “We heard rumours started to circulate… Who are you hearing these rumours from?”
O’Dare said: “I can’t recall that sorry.”
O’Dare was asked where he went after leaving the scene.
He said: “Home to support my family.”
Ms Laugharne said: “When did you realise how bad the situation got after you left.”
O’Dare said: “To be honest I can’t recall that.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Did you follow it along all evening or did you wake up and realise what had happened?”
O’Dare said: “I woke up.”
Ms Laugharne said: “How did that make you feel?”
O’Dare said: “Upset.”
Ms Laugharne said: “How did you feel when you saw the state of Ely?”
O’Dare said: “Really not good, we’ve got to live there.”
Ms Laugharne said: “What did you feel about what the police went through?”
O’Dare said: “Really upset.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Did you think the police deserved to go through what they went through?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Why did you decide to leave?”
O’Dare said: “Because I wanted to go home and support my family.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Can you remember who came to pick you up?”
O’Dare said: “No, I don’t recall that.”
Ms Laugharne said: “At any stage did you encourage the people around you?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Were you at any stage committing acts of violence?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Were you at any stage encouraging others to commit acts of violence?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Did you at any stage encourage others to throw anything at the police?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Did you at any stage throw anything at the police?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
When O’Dare was asked why he had placed his hands on his head on the footage, he said: “Disbelief… At what I had seen.”
The defendant denied encouraging other people by waving his hands.
Ms Laugharne said: “Were you beckoning people towards the police in hostility?”
O’Dare said: “No I was not.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Did you at any point encourage those people towards the police?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
The defendant was asked about claims he swapped his top with another male.
He said: “From what I remember I never did so.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You’re alleged to be pushing members of the public towards the police line. Was that the case?”
O’Dare said: “I had no intentions of doing anything like that.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You say ‘You ain’t f***** moving us, you’re not f****** moving us. You’ve got enough space, f*** off’.
“How were you feeling at this time?”
O’Dare said: “Stressed, overwhelmed.”
He added: “I had no intentions of hurting anybody
Ms Laugharne said: “You were heard saying ‘This is caused because you lot were chasing them, no helmets, come on boys’. Who was that referring to?”
O’Dare said: “I’m not sure.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You’re heard saying ‘Let’s push them back bruv’. What was this in response to?”
O’Dare said: “I don’t remember.”
Ms Laugharne said: “ You were heard saying ‘Don’t f****** let them, we’ve had enough, we’ve had f****** enough’. What was that in reference to?”
O’Dare said: “I don’t know.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Was there a lot of misinformation being spread about the boys?”
O’Dare said: “I don’t know. There was a lot of stress on my head.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You said: ‘There’s two kids, there are families suffering right now’.”
O’Dare said: “That’s true.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Can you explain what you mean by that?”
O’Dare said: “Not really. Very stressful times.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Were you suffering at this point?”
O’Dare said: “Yes.”
O’Dare was seen on the phone at some points of the footage.
He said: “My mum phoned me a few times… To find out what was going on and for updates.”
Ms Laugharne said: “How were you keeping up to date with what was happening with your family?”
O’Dare said: “I don’t recall…
“We were just waiting for answers and wanting to know what was happening… There was uncertainty of the deaths of the boys.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Were emotions running high Mr O’Dare?”“Yes.”
The defendant said he was ushered and said police officers were not engaging with him.
Ms Laugharne said: “You can be seen pointing at officers before you walked away
“Are you able to recall what that was about?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
The defendant said he had been given no information about what had happened
Ms Laugharne said: “Can you explain why you may have been ‘animated’?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You were seen pointing and shouting.”
O’Dare said: “It was a very overwhelming situation, it was a horrific scene and there was a lot going on.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Were you thinking straight at the time?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You said, ‘We live here, this is caused because of you’. Can you remember why you might have said that?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
The defendant was asked to describe how he felt.
O’Dare said: “Emotional and distressed… The scene I was looking at was just tragic so I was emotional at the time.
“There was a lot going. It was overwhelming. It was so tragic.”
Ms Laugharne said: “What were the rumours about?”
O’Dare said: “That they could have been knocked over.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You’re heard shouting, ‘It’s his dad you f****** muppets, whatever you want you f****** muppets’.
“Can you remember why you said these things?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You were heard saying, ‘You bunch of rapists’. Why did you say that?”
O’Dare said: “I was overwhelmed and stressed. I’m sorry about the language I used.”
Ms Laugharne said: “Do you think it’s acceptable to call police officers these names?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “How do you feel about that now?”
O’Dare said: “Not good.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You said what if it was your kids or family. Why did you say that?”
O’Dare said: “I’m not too sure… (I was) traumatised, stressed, overwhelmed.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You’re then heard saying ‘Whoah don’t push’. Can you remember what was happening?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
Ms Laugharne said: “You were heard saying ‘Yo yo calm down’. Can you remember what you were trying to calm down?”
O’Dare said: “No.”
