Man jailed after shopping centre attack

Daniel told police "voices in his head" had told him to travel to Cardiff where he carried out the attacks

A man who sexually assaulted two women in a shopping centre bathroom, hours after carrying out an assault on a teenager, has been jailed for eight years.

Phillip Daniel, 34, from Barry, grabbed the teenage girl in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, on 26 July 2024, pinning her to a wall - but the young victim wrestled free and fled, alerting the police.

Meanwhile Daniel had boarded a train to Cardiff, where he attacked two women, moments apart, in the women's toilets inside St David's shopping centre.

At the sentencing at Newport Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Lloyd-Clarke described Daniel - who has been detained under the mental health act since the attacks - as a a "very high risk" to women.

Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Daniel must serve an extended period of four years on licence at the end of his eight year prison sentence, and must register as a sex offender for life.

He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The order bans him from using women's public toilets or unisex toilets for a period of fifteen years, and from having unsupervised contact with children.

Sexual attacks

Newport Crown Court heard Daniel told police "voices in his head" had told him to travel to Cardiff, where he carried out the sexual attacks, leaving his victims traumatised.

Daniel had previously been subject to a community order for assaulting a lone female jogger in Bute Park, Cardiff, on 31 January 2023.

William Bebb, representing Daniel, told the court his client had a "complex" background of mental health issues.

Mr Bebb said Phillip Daniel had been detained under the Mental Health Act for fifteen months since the offences last July, and a change in medication had "brought some stability."

Daniel's victims all said the attacks had left them feeling anxious and afraid to go out alone.

The teenage victim had struggled with anxiety and isolation and it had impacted her preparations for her GCSE exams.

One of the women who was attacked in a toilet cubicle at the shopping centre said it had left her fearful, and uncomfortable using public bathrooms.

The second adult victim said she suffered from panic attacks and has difficulty in sleeping.

The court heard police found a single Viagra tablet in his wallet after detaining him at the shopping centre. There was no evidence, however, that he had taken the medication on the day he carried out the attacks.

A psychiatric analysis concluded Daniel presented an "elevated risk to females, particularly minors."

The judge sentenced Daniel to a total of eight years in prison - for four sexual assaults and the violent assault on the teenage girl.