Welsh Grand National Winning Trainer Evan Williams Jailed for Three Years After Hockey Stick Assault

Evan Williams, the accomplished horse racing trainer who captured the Welsh Grand National and multiple Grade One honors at the Cheltenham Festival, will spend the next three years behind bars after being sentenced Tuesday for a brutal assault on a dog walker.

The 55-year-old trainer attacked 72-year-old Martin Dandridge with a hockey stick on his property in Llancarfan, south Wales, in December 2024. The assault left Dandridge, a resident of Swindon, with serious injuries including a fractured arm. Williams struck his victim repeatedly during the incident.

Williams faced a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which he denied. A jury at Cardiff Crown Court deliberated for 90 minutes before delivering a unanimous conviction in March. During sentencing, Recorder Angharad Price described the attack as an appalling offence that caused serious injury to Dandridge, who continues to live with the impact of Williams' actions sixteen months later.

The judge noted that Williams faced a choice on the day of the assault: he could have waited for police to respond to reports of a trespasser on his property, or he could confront the intruder himself. He chose the latter, and the consequences have now ended his freedom and placed his training business in jeopardy. Six weeks before the assault, Williams had confronted poachers on his land and been threatened with a shotgun, an experience the court acknowledged was frightening but did not justify his actions.

It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands, the judge stated. This sentence will be a lesson to you that it is always better to call the police if you think a crime is being committed.

Williams' barrister, David Elias KC, warned the court that the trainer's absence would effectively end his business. Indeed, the future of Evan Williams Racing, which he established in 2003, now hangs in the balance. His wife Cath has taken over the training licence, and last month a horse running in her name, Ask Brewster, won the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Williams built one of Wales' premier racing operations, with top-four finishes in five consecutive Aintree Grand Nationals between 2009 and 2013. He trained Secret Reprieve to victory in the 2020 Welsh Grand National at Chepstow, establishing himself as a fixture in National Hunt racing.