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- More ‘Water, water everywhere…’ (Copyright ST Coleridge) part two - 23rd November 2024
Our satirical writer Edwin Phillips reads an internal police report with a difference, after a South Wales criminal exclusively exposed by The Eye, who had his legs broken when a drugs deal soured and tricked innocent people out of thousands of pounds, was put behind bars for growing cannabis.
POLICE REPORT ACTION TERMINATION (PRAT)
After proceeding in an upwardly direction, it has come to the notice of officers, that Mr Howard Williams (otherwise known as Mr James Daniels who we understand has run cafés or take-aways in South Wales as well as a bar in Spain), is no longer a threat to the public, because he has been sentenced at Merthyr Crown Court for serious drug offences.
Our colleagues in South Wales Police (SWP) have made this clear by announcing on Facebook (FB): “Two men behind multiple cannabis factories worth up to 600k have been put behind bars.
Following an investigation carried out by the Mid Glamorgan Organised Crime Unit, six large-scale cannabis factories were linked to two men.
“On Wednesday, Ashley Carter, aged 35 from #Rhondda, and Howard Williams, aged 46 from #Cardiff, were sentenced at Merthyr Crown Court.
Mr Williams/Daniels was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for conspiracy to supply and produce cannabis.
After the pair were jailed, Detective Constable Chelsea Barrett, who led the case, said: “We know that many people think it is ‘just a bit of cannabis’ but any production of drugs is linked to wider operations. These large operations are often run by organised crime gangs, who are likely to engage in human trafficking and very serious violence involving weapons.
“I would encourage people to please continue to report suspicious behaviour and suspected drug dealing in their neighbourhood to us, as the information helps us develop a bigger picture that leads us to take action and remove drugs from the streets.”
But on looking into this matter, it is obvious to one and all that this is not the first time that Mr Williams/Daniels (who also branched out into property previously) has fallen foul of the law, and the behaviour in his personal life as well as in business have merited investigation.
Several years ago he announced on social media his engagement to a woman called Ms Danni (or Danielle) Greer while he was still married to someone else.
It has been disclosed as well, that Mr Williams/Daniels had opened a tanning studio in Cardiff, although we understand that like many of his past ‘businesses’ this one also soon met trouble.
Mr Williams/Daniels has admitted to being imprisoned, but described it in a FB post as a “short while”, when his convictions in fact total years.
He claimed: “…when I was younger I did spend a short while in prison for fraud in the UK”, and added: “Stand up to the liars (and) haters…”.
Apart from, over 10 years, spending more than four of them in prison convicted of 25 deception counts (even before his latest jailing at Merthyr Tydfil), Mr Williams/Daniels has been made bankrupt three times – in 2002, 2010 and 2015.
During his previous career as an ‘Estate Agent’, the anger of one individual was evident to our officers, because on a property website it was stated: “He (Mr Williams/Daniels) makes you pay circa £10k deposit and then disappears into the sunset”.
Mr Williams/Daniels has boasted of owning a boat as well as a jetski, which he has said on FB was for sale.
Plainly life was good for him, although our investigating team doubted that much was true, and Mr Williams/Daniels posted a YouTube interview on his property website where he bragged about his property ‘expertise’.
He claimed he had a “massive” estate agency business, but went from earning £20,000 a week to having just £56 in his pocket and living on the streets. Mr Williams/Daniels also alleged he drove expensive cars (and photographs have been published), saying in the interview that it took just “24 hours” to turn the £56 into £1,000.
Yet one who is owed thousands of pounds by Mr Williams/Daniels told officers: “This is all made up. He lives in a complete fantasy world!”.
Mr Williams/Daniels has, too, been in charge of marketing for a Spanish wine bar called ‘Blanco’ in Murcia, and he announced his engagement to Ms Greer on the bar’s website. But over one Christmas and New Year, he warned customers on social media that they could no longer accept credit cards at Blanco, when it is our belief that these periods are the busiest times of year for restaurants and it is almost unheard of for them only to take cash then.
He also ran dance nights at a disco in Spain called ‘Roldan’ but it closed soon after disclosures by the website The Eye. Following them our investigations have confirmed that Mr Williams/Daniels asked a specialist company how to “get rid” of The Eye’s “negative” stories about him on the internet.
He wrote: “When I google James daniels spain or James Daniels property or James Daniels murcia a load of website links appear for the-eye.wales which are negative reviews and not true (The Eye – nothing is untrue). How do I get rid of these an(d) how much does it cost? Also how long does it take?”.
Mr Williams/Daniels needed hospital treatment after his legs were broken when an illegal drugs deal went wrong, and it has also been revealed on The Eye, how formerly he had teamed up with another ex-criminal from South Wales, who was also put behind bars for drug offences, to start a ‘charity’. He launched the ‘Crisis Housing Charity’ and asked for donations from the public in a venture designed ostensibly to help ex-convicts find homes. The ‘charity’ gave an address in Cardiff but does not now exist.
However there is, we believe, mounting frustration that only The Eye have covered the exploits of Mr Williams/Daniels. One who knows him well, said: “I was totally ignored when I emailed (the mainstream media) back last year, I was so hopeful when it was the Spanish national police after him. He was also wanted for identification fraud here (Spain). Turns my stomach just thinking of what he is doing. Evil man”.
The esteemed journalist Mr Phil Parry has, too, been subjected to a torrent of abuse on social media from Mr Williams/Daniels and his supporters, following discoveries by The Eye’s journalists. His friends, wife and children, have been as well.
In one extraordinary outburst he wrote to him on FB: “You write total lies about people (The Eye – we only report facts), bully to the point of harassment and suicide, and will not answer a direct email? This is not journalism this is a mixture of Phil Parry (The ex journalist) and (others) you are pure scum!!!!! Let it be publicly known that The Eye does NOT care about people it just lies to make fictitious stories up. BULLYING, LIES, MENTAL HEALTH ABUSE TO NAME BUT A FEW!!!!!”.
In another he said: “I am have contacted you (sic) numerous times before asking why you consistently, stalk, bully and harass me? … You so far have asked the following for comments:
Thief
Abuser (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is an abuser).
Liar
Sex Offender (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is a sex offender).
Drug user (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is a drug user, just that he has dealt in illegal drugs).
Meanwhile his ex-business partner, Mr Sam McManus (also known as ‘Georgeson’), has first-hand knowledge of his methods. He has admitted he too was conned by him and that Mr Williams/Daniels was a ‘sick man’. Mr McManus explained how he was deceived along with everyone else, and told The Eye: “He (Williams/Daniels) has fooled many people and I can only be grateful that there are good investigative journalists like you guys who expose greedy people like him. It is embarrassing to admit that I am yet another victim of his greed”.
The Eye were also contacted by a driver for one of Mr Williams/Daniels’ cafés who offered worrying information. He said: “He (Mr Williams/Daniels) (is) not paying me for the work I did for him and he (is) also not paying the other drivers. Thank god I read your report on him, it save(d) me money and bother. The guy is a joke. I’m now £200 out of pocket, but it could be worst (sic)”.
A text message about Mr Williams/Daniels said that he had: “…taken everything out AGAIN not paid the staff Owes one of the girls £500 locked up and empty”.
Earlier another staff member at one of his ‘cafés’ warned others on FB: “Nobody work for Crave desserts in Merthyr town, haven’t paid some of their staff for weeks, delivery drivers and kitchen staff, always says it will be in on Friday or Tuesday and I’m still waiting 5 weeks on along with others who worked there. Always got to beg for your money, Absolutely disgusting, you work the hours and expect to be paid! They have blocked me from their page and ain’t answering my messages, fuming!”.
It appears that Mr Williams/Daniels has been blocked for the moment, after he was AGAIN jailed, and the South Wales constabulary have played an important role.