It’s one of the most common questions I get asked: ‘Why am I always sick?’ And it’s always the same complaint.
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A judge told Terrence O’Connor what he did was “unforgivable”
11:48, 05 Sep 2026
Terrence O’Connor stole more than £200,000 from members of his family(Image: South Wales Police)
A man stole more than £200,000 from members of his own family in an “unforgiveable” act of “betrayal”, a court has heard.
Terrence O’Connor secretly set up online and phone banking facilities for his parents, siblings, and widowed grandfather, and used that access to help himself to their money – including draining his granddad’s entire life savings – over a period of more than five years,
When his offending came to light the defendant skipped the country rather than face the consequences of what he did and fled to Turkey where he lived for almost a year.
Sending O’Connor down, a judge at Swansea Crown Court described him as a “thoroughly dishonest individual” who had betrayed his family, and he described his behaviour as “unforgiveable”.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told the court that O’Connor’s offending was discovered in May 2020 when his grandfather visited his bank in Swansea city centre to withdraw cash only to find that almost all of his £80,000 life savings and pension payments were gone. The bank launched an investigation and found that the money had been paid into the defendant’s parents’ accounts in a series of transactions before being transferred out or used to make online purchases. However, the parents knew nothing about the transactions.
The court heard the parents then confronted their son at his partner’s address in Llansamlet and after a “physical altercation”, the dad found himself in possession of his son’s phone which he handed to the police.
The barrister told the court that O’Connor was arrested in August 2021 and in interview denied any wrongdoing but refused to hand over the PINs and passwords for his devices leading police to a carry out a “lengthy investigation” which included getting access to financial and banking records, and phone subscriber details. During the investigation officers seized phone recordings from banks of O’Connor posing as other family members in order to carry out phone banking transactions on their accounts.
The court heard that once the investigation was complete officers went to arrest O’Connor in May last year but their knocks on the door went unanswered, even though his car was parked outside the property. Four days later O’Connor took a ferry from Dover to France and subsequently travelled to Turkey where he lived for almost a year before flying home in April this year and being arrested at Gatwick Airport. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
The prosecutor said detectives found that O’Connor had secretly set up online and phone banking facilities on his grandfather’s account, and then used that access to drain a total of £79,659 from the account. It also emerged that the defendant had intercepted mail from the bank during his regular visits to his grandfather’s house in St Thomas in order to keep him in the dark about what was going on with his money.
The investigation also found that O’Connor had likewise used his knowledge of his family members’ personal details to access the accounts of his parents and siblings in order make a series of transfers and purchases, often moving around between people’s accounts to hide what he was doing.
The prosecutor said in total O’Connor stole £79,659 from his grandfather, £84,094 from his parents, £29,353 from his brother, and £8,241 from his sister. The court heard that the grandfather’s bank repaid the money stolen in total, while the brother’s bank repaid half of what was taken from him. The other family members have lost everything. The grandfather has since passed away.
The investigation also led to O’Connor’s then partner, Chelsea Myles, and it emerged she had allowed the defendant to transfer stolen monies into her bank account. Between 2017 and 2020 a total of £42,233 was transferred into Myles’ account by the defendant.
In a family statement which was read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the defendant’s father said what happened had been “very painful and very embarrassing for the family” and said he did not want to spend any more time thinking about what his son had done.
He said: “For what he did to my father and the rest of us, I can never forgive him. We are an honest, hard-working family – he seems happy to take what he can from others around him… What he has done to our family is unforgivable”.
The father said what his son did was not a “one off” but was a conscious choice he made day after day for more than five years, and he said he would “never get over the betray” and said the family “will never be the same again”.
The dad also said his son posted derogatory comments about the family on social media, and had then written to his mother while in prison to apologise. He said: “I do believe he was sorry – but not for us. He is sorry he is in prison. He wasn’t sorry when he was stealing from us every day for five years”.
He added that the defendant is someone who thinks he is cleverer than those around him, and he asked the court to “Teach him a lesson that he cannot just do what he wants to”.
Terrence – known as Terry – O’Connor, aged 33, of Carmel Road, Winch Wen, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and possession of criminal property – namely cash – when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for burglary, going equipped for theft, and handling stolen goods.
Chelsea Myles, aged 26, of Tegfan, Trallwn, Llansamlet, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property – namely cash – when she appeared alongside her co-defendant. She has no previous convictions.
Hywel Davies, for O’Connor, said the defendant’s “best and only mitigation” were his guilty pleas, and he said there could be no mitigation for the offending which was “extreme, targeted, and cruel”. He said the father-of-two had now removed controlled substances from his life, and said he intends to start his own IT business.
Emily Bennett, for Myles, said her client had been 16 when she started a relationship with the defendant and 17 when the money transfers started, and said “naivety” had played its part in the offending. She said Myles works as a carer and is due to meet her employers to discuss her situation.
Judge Huw Res told O’Connor that he was a “thoroughly dishonest individual” who had defrauded members of his own family before adopting a “cowardly stance” when the police become involved and then fleeing the jurisdiction. The judge praised the dignity of the defendant’s family in the face of his “betray”, and told O’Connor: “Your behaviour was unforgivable”.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas O’Connor was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. He will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
The judge said as far as Myles was concerned, it was clear she had been “under the spell” of her “deeply dishonest” partner, though he noted she had been “hiding things” from the author of the pre-sentence report and could have been “more forthright”.
With a 20 per cent discount for her guilty plea Myles was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to do 180 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Rees said in the absence of any co-operation from O’Connor, the police investigation was to be commended.
The results suggested that eating more nuts was associated with a lower risk of hypertension. (Image: Getty)
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects around 1.4 billion people worldwide and is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. While diet is just one part of maintaining healthy blood pressure, certain foods have been linked with better cardiovascular health, and a small daily snack could be good news for your heart. Eating a handful of nuts each day has been linked with a lower risk of developing high blood pressure, according to new research involving more than 143,000 people.
According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, eating a handful of nuts each day may help lower your risk of developing high blood pressure by 20%. The research, published last month, analysed eight prospective studies and found that each additional 28g serving of nuts consumed per day was associated with a 20% lower risk of developing hypertension.
Nuts are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and healthy fats. (Image: Getty)
The researchers found that consuming around 30g of nuts a day was associated with a 26% lower risk of developing high blood pressure compared with eating no nuts.
In the abstract, the study states: “In this meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies, we found further evidence for a reduced risk of hypertension with higher intake of nuts. These findings support dietary guideline recommendations to include a serving of nuts per day.”
Choose unsalted and non roasted options. According to Heart UK, some good choices include walnuts, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, macadamias, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, or peanuts.
At Tesco, a 25g packet of Mixed Nuts & Pecans costs 80p, while Aldi‘s 200g Mixed Nuts works out at £1.75 and ASDA‘s 200g Nut Mix is priced at £1.98. At Superdrug, a 35g pack of mixed nuts cost just 70p.
Nuts contain a combination of nutrients that may help support cardiovascular health, including unsaturated fats, fibre, minerals and plant compounds. However, the researchers stressed that the analysis was based on observational studies, which means it identified an association rather than establishing cause and effect.
According to the latest figures, around 16 million people in the UK are estimated to have high blood pressure but almost five million of them don’t know they have it. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, can lead to serious problems like heart attacks or strokes. There are usually no symptoms, so you may not realise you have it.
The only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to get your blood pressure checked. Things that increase your chances of having high blood pressure include age, having an unhealthy diet and particularly one that is high in salt, being overweight, drinking too much alcohol, smoking, and having close relatives with high blood pressure. Being under stress for a long period of time can also contribute to raised blood pressure. Lifestyle changes and blood pressure medicines can help you stay healthy.
The findings add to growing evidence that nuts can form part of a healthy diet, but they should not be viewed as a treatment for hypertension. Keeping salt intake under control, eating a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables, staying physically active and maintaining a healthy weight are all important for blood pressure.
On the second day of the Reform UK conference, in the wake of an undercover investigation alleging party officials plotted to evade the law on foreign donations, the deputy leader, Richard Tice, addressed the audience. Within minutes, a banner appeared behind him reading: “Collect £5m, burn the planet.”
It was taken down promptly and Tice, who has repeatedly called on people to enjoy the summer’s five successive heatwaves and record drought, rolled on. As Reform members at the Birmingham venue applauded Tice, there was plenty of agreement with his views. “I enjoyed the heat this summer,” said Jeanette Bowden, of Bexley. “I don’t think people need telling to take care of themselves.” Her partner, James, added, without scientific backing: “Carbon dioxide was much higher in the past, it was 10 times higher than this during the ice ages. It’s not a human problem.”
Amid stalls offering simulated helicopter rides, gold as an investment, tattoos and discounts on rum, climate scepticism was common. “It’s overhyped,” said Yvonne, who did not wish to give a surname.
“I don’t believe the predictions,” said Jim Langford. “They told us Norwich would be underwater by now and it’s not Atlantis yet.” Ed Rennie, a former Labour councillor from north London, said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had reduced some of its higher predictions.
But many of the same people who, like Tice, cast doubt on climate science, also criticised the government for failing to protect people against the hot weather. Bowden pointed to new-build houses. “They have really small windows,” she said. “That might be good in winter, but in summer it must be too hot, you can hardly open them. The government should not force this on people.”
Yvonne added: “The government were all on their holidays in the summer, not doing their jobs [to help people during the heatwaves]. Government should ensure there is clean water and sewage, but they’re not even doing that.”
Nicholas, another delegate who did not wish to be named in full, said air conditioning should be installed in all hospitals, schools, libraries and public buildings, and made more easily available for homes.
Langford said the government was “absolutely not” doing enough to help people cope with the impacts of extreme weather. “They’re not preparing us at all, they’re just wasting resources.” Beryl Kingsbury said people should take responsibility for their own safety during hot weather, but farmers needed help. “They should have more support, but this government seems to hate farmers.”
For Mark Henderson, a facilities manager who works mostly outside looking after three large yards, the government’s role should be to apply common sense to health and safety. “I wear a helmet all the time, which was very hot [in the heatwaves], but I don’t need it all the time. You should be able to relax those rules in hot weather, to make them task-specific,” he said.
The confusion among Reform supporters, explained Michael Jacobs, an emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield, was to be expected given the party leadership’s peddling of “myths and lies” over the climate. Voters often say they want contradictory things, such as high standards of social care without tax rises to pay for them, Jacobs pointed out. But on the climate, they face an even more intense bombardment from contradictory viewpoints, as parties of the right try to turn the issue into a culture war.
“It’s really incoherent to be in favour of adaptation but not [cutting greenhouse gas emissions], but it’s not surprising people think that, given what they’ve been told,” Jacobs said. “Tice and Farage have claimed net zero would be economically ruinous, which is simply wrong. They try to say the UK is acting alone in cutting emissions, also untrue. These are pernicious myths. They have obscured the scientific fact that net zero is the description of where you need to get to, to stop the climate crisis getting any worse.”
Party activists of all stripes – the people who come to conferences – also tend to have stronger opinions than a party’s voters. Polls consistently show that Reform voters are much less likely to deny climate science than their leaders, and large majorities would like to see renewable energy sited near them, despite opposition to renewables from the party leadership. And although Reform has railed against “net stupid zero”, a significant minority, roughly a quarter by some polling, remain in favour of the target. In contrast to the leadership’s stance, which is to scrap the North Sea windfall tax, about 70% want higher taxes on fossil fuels, according to a poll taken last year.
Labour’s climate minister, Katie White, said Reform was out of step with voters. “After the summer we’ve just had, outright climate denial is a pretty lonely corner of British politics,” she said, noting that the government was investing in flood and coastal defences, and in strengthening the response to wildfires.
“My plea to Reform members, MPs and their leadership is a genuine one: please don’t turn climate change into another culture war. Britain has always been at its best when we lead, invent and build. I want our country developing the technologies the world will need, backing British businesses and innovators, and protecting the people and places we love.”
Dissenting voices were hard to find among delegates, but there were occasional flashes of doubt. One younger Reform member, a 25-year-old candidate to be a councillor in the north-west, was unusual in being less certain of the leadership’s stance. “I’m not sure what they should be doing on the climate,” he said. “But I know I and my generation will have to live with it.”
A Darlington woman who shed four stone on Mounjaro has revealed she paid a hefty price for the slimmed frame – she lost 50 per cent of her hair.
Halifax has updated customers
Halifax customers who get Universal Credit have been told that their benefit money will still arrive as normal as accounts begin moving under the Lloyds name. The update follows questions from customers after Lloyds Banking Group confirmed it is planning to phase out the Halifax brand across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with branches and digital services gradually rebranded.
Some people have been concerned that a switch in branding could interrupt payments they rely on each month. The concern was highlighted by one Halifax customer on X, who asked what would happen if the Universal Credit system only held their existing Halifax details.
They wanted to know how the Department for Work and Pensions could keep paying them if their account was no longer classed as a Halifax account. Halifax replied directly, stressing that customers won’t be issued new details as part of the change, so payments should continue without any action needed.
Halifax responded: “If your Halifax account is moving to Lloyds, your Universal Credit payments will continue as normal as your account details will remain the same. Benefit payments have been considered as part of the transfer process.”
That message may come as a relief for households where a late Universal Credit payment can quickly lead to missed bills or other financial pressure.
What’s happening to Halifax accounts?
Under the plans, Halifax is being phased out as a brand in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with services and branches brought under the Lloyds identity over time. Crucially, Halifax says customers are not being given new account numbers or sort codes because of the transition. Existing account details will remain the same, and customers’ cards and PINs are also expected to stay unchanged.
The bank has said regular activity on accounts should carry on as normal too, including Direct Debits, standing orders and money paid in. That means people paid wages, pensions or benefits should not usually need to update an employer or organisation simply because the branding on their banking app or branch signage changes.
The shift is due to happen gradually, with customers moved onto Lloyds’ digital banking services as their accounts transfer. While the Halifax name is expected to disappear from branches and online services eventually, the underlying account details are set to remain in place.
For Universal Credit claimants, the key point is that payments should still be routed to the same account, despite the Lloyds branding. Halifax’s response also explicitly confirms that benefit payments were factored into the transfer process.
Customers are also being urged to stay alert for scams, with criminals sometimes taking advantage of high-profile changes to target account holders. Anyone receiving an unexpected message asking for bank details, requesting a transfer, or directing them to click a link should avoid acting on it and contact the bank using an official method instead.
Kyle Davis, 29, and Adam Wheeler Davies, 27, are encouraging others to apply for jobs as Ambulance Care Assistants in the region.
Mr Davis began his career as a carpet fitter before being made redundant.
During the pandemic, he took a temporary job at a mobile Covid testing unit, which led to a permanent role with the Welsh Ambulance Service.
He said: “In 2020, in the middle of a covid pandemic, I never thought for the life of me I’d get a job at the Welsh Ambulance Service and be where I am today.
“I’ve been able to progress, and it feels good to be in the position I am now.
“I’m proud of myself and the job I do.
“It’s really rewarding and you feel like you’re making a difference.”
Mr Davis has since become a team leader, ACA, and recently qualified as an Emergency Medical Technician.
He believes the ACA role is a strong starting point.
He said: “The ACA role is a brilliant entry level role for anyone, I’d recommend it.
“It allows you to build a great foundation and it gives you a really good grounding in patient care.”
Mr Wheeler Davies, a former chef, has also progressed quickly since joining the service without prior healthcare experience.
He said: “When I joined as an Ambulance Care Assistant, I had no healthcare experience, so everything was brand new, but I had great training and got lots of experience on the job.
“It’s been great to progress in my role and I’m about to start my training as a trainee Emergency Medical Technician.
“I’m naturally a caring person so I get a lot of satisfaction from working in the community.
“It’s great to be helping people every day.”
The Welsh Ambulance Service is currently recruiting ACAs in Barry and Cwm Taf.
Applications close on Sunday, September 6, 2026.
Successful candidates will complete a six-week training programme.
There is major disruption at the Port of Dover due to a large group of masked men holding a demonstration.
Kent Police said it was aware of a demonstration currently taking place at the ferry terminal and was “engaging with protesters”.
Traffic has been stopped from going in and out of the port.
Images from the scene appear to show hundreds of protesters, all dressed in black and wearing face coverings.
P&O Ferries said it would get passengers on to the next available sailing if they missed their scheduled crossing.
Ferry operator DFDS said it was aware of the “current traffic disruption” and would accommodate passengers on the next departure once they arrived.
Traffic is stopped in both directions on the A20, between the A256 York Street and the A2 Jubilee Way in Dover, according to National Highways.
It is reporting three miles (4.8km) of congestion and delays of up to 30 minutes.
Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp told the BBC the incident was causing “absolutely awful disruption” for residents.
“My understanding is, a number of individuals have travelled to the area, wearing black, wearing balaclavas, and have blocked a number of roads leading into the port area,” he said.
Plans to install external ice baths, a sauna, hot tub and changing rooms at Holm House in Penarth have been approved by Vale of Glamorgan Council.
During its life as a boutique hotel, Holm House had stars such as Harry Styles, Daniel Craig, Tyson Fury, and David Hasselhof staying there.
It closed in 2024 due to the impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis.
Holm House reopened in 2025 with popular restaurant Silures setting up at the site, which is now described as a luxury retreat.
Planning documents propose the instillation of enhanced spa facilities in the rear seating area of the hotel comprising of external ice baths, sauna, hot tub, changing facility and associated plant ancillary to existing hotel operations.
The proposed site plan also shows additional screen planting which would provide a degree of separation and privacy between these external spa facilities and the main seating area to the rear of the hotel.
The planned “outdoor wellness area” is planned to have a maximum occupancy of six users at any one time, with proposed hours of 09:00 to 20:00 Monday through Saturdays and 10:00 to 18:00 on Sundays and bank holidays.
These external spa facilities are not expected to result in any “undue noise and disturbance” over and above the use of the outdoor dining and seating areas by hotel and restaurant guests.
It was recognised that the hot tub does generate a degree of noise from the pumps, and the ice baths from the chillers and pumps, but their siting means they are not considered to result in any unacceptable impact on nearby residential amenities.
The structures themselves, whilst located in close proximity to the part of the garden located to the south serving New Skomer, would not unacceptably impact on the outlook from the adjacent occupiers garden.
The application reads that the development has been “carefully designed” to be both “visually attractive” and “clearly functional”, which is suitable for Holm House’s operation as a “high-quality hospitality and leisure offering.”
