Dozens of drivers ‘treated like criminals’ and taken to court over Cardiff incident

Jenna Langdon said she is one of 64 drivers being ‘treated like criminals’ for turning around on a closed dual carriageway after thinking they had been allowed to do so by police

04:00, 30 Aug 2026

A woman has said she’s been “treated like a criminal” after being prosecuted for driving the wrong way down a closed dual carriageway after being stuck in traffic in Cardiff for more than an hour.

Jenna Langdon, who was summoned to appear before a court on Monday, said she was one of around 100 drivers who turned around following an incident which closed the Butetown Tunnels near Cardiff Bay thinking she had been allowed to by police. Ms Langdon, from Aberdare, said she “doesn’t know how it has got to the point” where she is appearing in court over something she thought was “completely innocent”.

During the hearing at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on Monday Ms Langdon said she was told by a prosecutor the drivers had performed a dangerous manoeuvre. “They told me I’d put people’s lives at risk,” she said.

The 41-year-old had to take a day off work for the hearing. She pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and was ordered to pay £600 in fines and costs and given six penalty points on her licence.

In total Ms Langdon said she was told in court 64 drivers had been prosecuted in relation to the incident. She said more drivers than this had turned around including a friend who made the same manoeuvre but has not been prosecuted.

She fears the criminal conviction, being made to pay such a hefty fee, and receiving a significant number of penalty points could put people’s livelihoods at risk.

The tunnel was closed due to a police incident late on February 20, 2026. Ms Langdon, who was travelling home with her mum and daughter in the vehicle after they had watched a show at the nearby Wales Millennium Centre, made it around halfway through the tunnel before hitting standstill traffic.

“Nothing moved for about an hour and we just sat there. The road was blocked in front and then they shut the road behind us so we were sandwiched in this traffic,” she said. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here

“After around an hour and a half, maybe two hours, one-by-one in a very controlled manner we turned around. Police officers were at the end of the slip road. We waved to say thanks thinking they had let us out.”

She said she was under the impression the whole queue of traffic in the tunnel had turned around and acted believing official temporary arrangements had been put in place due to the closure. Ms Langdon thought nothing more of the situation until she received a letter from South Wales Police’s motoring unit telling her she was being prosecuted.

She replied to the letter but thought its issuing had been a mistake, assuming it had been sent automatically after her number plate was picked up by a camera.

“We followed what we believed to be police instruction and did the same as the other motorists,” she said.

However another letter said South Wales Police did intend to prosecute Ms Langdon. An statement from a police officer who was at the scene that night was included as evidence.

It said: “On February 20, 2026, between 23.15 and 23.45 hours, I was parked in a static position on a road closure situated at the entrance to the northbound Butetown Tunnel, A4232, Cardiff.

“During this time I observed a number of vehicles driving the wrong way back up the dual carriageway towards the road closure, travelling against the permitted flow of traffic. This presented an immediate risk to road users, pedestrians, and emergency personnel.

“At no time did I, or to my knowledge any other police officer on the scene, direct or instruct any vehicles to drive the wrong way up the dual carriageway.” The letter added the vehicle Ms Langdon was driving went past the officer’s roads policing vehicle and triggered its automatic number plate recognition camera.

She received a letter saying she would need to indicate her plea, which she put as guilty. Ms Langdon also ticked a box saying she was happy for the case to be dealt with in her absence hoping she would not need to go to court.

“The question the letter asked was: ‘Did you drive down the wrong way?’ Well, yes, I did but I gave the reasons why,” she said. However Ms Langdon then received a court summons ordering her to appear before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on August 24.

“I thought they’d made me go to court so I could explain what happened and then they would throw it out. I genuinely believed that. I felt completely blindsided when I stood there in front of the three judges and was made to feel like the biggest criminal in the world. It was not what I was expecting and completely knocked me off my feet.

“I was shocked and sick to my stomach.”

Despite Ms Langdon hoping the magistrates would take the circumstances into account she said she felt they had already made up their mind up about the amount she would be forced to pay and the penalty points before she arrived.

Ms Langdon said she could believe the punishment she received. In a worst-case scenario she thought she would be given a fixed-penalty notice, which she said she still would’ve appealed.

“I wasn’t expecting to have to pay £600 in 28 days. That’s a lot for anybody to pay whoever you are. Then the points too. My insurance is due in a month – the [careless driving conviction is] going to dramatically increase that.”

She said she fears this punishment could ruin some people’s livelihoods. “I remember there were young lads behind us. If they’d been driving for less than two years they’re going to lose their licence over this. It just feels really unjust over something as innocent as thinking you were told to turn around.”

She added: “It was completely innocent. There was no malice, there was no intent, there was no thinking: ‘I’m fed up. I am just going to take it upon myself to turn around’. As far as I’m aware the whole tunnel ended up turning round. It was very controlled. It was very safe. The police let us pass. They didn’t stop anybody so I don’t know why they didn’t stop the first person who turned around because it would have stopped everybody else. I don’t know how it’s got to this point.

“Sixty-four people made the same decision. We can’t all be wrong thinking that that’s what we were supposed to do. I thought common sense would prevail.”

She added that it feels as though “innocent people” are being “purposely pursued as a money-making exercise.”

A police spokesman said: “South Wales Police has received a complaint following the prosecution of a driver for driving without due care and attention on February 20. Enquires are ongoing in relation to the complaint.”