Covid: 10 fined for attending summer rave in Banwen

Ten people who attended the rave on August Bank Holiday weekend have been fined in court

Ten people have been fined for attending a rave which attracted more than 4,000 visitors last summer.

The 10 defendants admitted to gathering outdoors with more than 30 people at the rave in Banwen, Neath Port Talbot.

Ten others did not attend their hearings and another man changed his plea to not guilty, with these cases being heard at a later date.

The 10 defendants were fined between £319 and £1,240 each by Swansea Magistrates.

The unlicensed event in the Dulais Valley, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, started just days after tougher penalties came into force for people who organised and attended illegal events while coronavirus restrictions were in force.

• Eight fined and arrests made after illegal rave

• Organisers of 3,000-strong rave hit with £10k fine

The court heard police received a number of phone calls over the 2020 August Bank Holiday weekend in complaining of loud music at Walter's Arena, a former opencast mine which was turned into an international motorsport complex.

Residents of the village said they had been woken at about 00:30 BST by the sound of shouting and swearing in the street, while also noting roads were gridlocked, with a number of people vomiting on the payment.

Police said ravers travelled from across the UK to the illegal event in Banwen

The court heard residents were "scared to go out" and the streets near the site were littered with condoms, faeces and gas canisters.

The owner of Walter's Arena was reported to have said that the ground needs to be razed in order to recover.

At the time, one man living 14 miles away claimed he was kept awake by the noise of the rave

The court heard there were a number of barriers surrounding the site and there was no permission for anyone to access it. On entry, police discovered around 4,000 people at the illegal gathering with four separate stages set up.

One man from East Sussex was charged with being part of organising the event and changed his plea from guilty to not guilty - and told his case would be heard later.

Residents reported gridlocked streets and noise while the rave was taking place

Ten others were scheduled to have hearings but did not attend, and their hearings will be rearranged.

Those who were fined were.

• Rhys Cox, 26, from Didcot, Oxfordshire. He said it was a "bad move" to be there and apologised for the harm caused. He was ordered to pay £1,240 in fines and costs

• Julian Hammond, 24, from Bedford. Fined £1,185

• Felix Blake, 28, from Bristol. He was stopped by police while attempting to leave the site in a van, which contained speakers, stage equipment, empty bottles of alcohol and plastic bags, but he was not considered to be one of the organisers. He was fined £1,175

• James Anderson, 30, from Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent. He told police he had found about the rave via social media. He was fined £1,175

• Oliver James Preece, 25, also from Ebbw Vale. He said he understood what he had done was wrong. District judge Christopher James told him he had shown a "flagrant disregard of regulations put in place to protect society." He was fined £745

• Dean Horwood, 37, from Buckinghamshire, was fined £745

• His son, Luke Horwood, now 18, was ordered to pay £319. The father and son travelled to the event in separate vehicles.

• Jordan Venus, 25, from Bristol, was stopped by police leaving the rave. The court heard he had eight previous convictions. For the most recent of these he was handed a two year suspended sentence for driving whilst disqualified and having control of a class C drug in May 2020. His suspended sentence was extended by six months and he was fined £745

• Zoe Malins, 32, from New Quay, Ceredigion, was stopped by police leaving the rave in a van. When she was asked why she had not left when told to by police, she said "I don't know". She was fined £635

• George Baggeley from Hampshire was also fined £635 after being stopped by police in van as he was leaving the area.

At the time, eight people were fined up to £10,000 for being involved in the illegal rave.