• A couple from Bridgend have been subject to two armed police Raids for firearms, with South Wales Police coming out empty-handed on both occasions.
• Racist harassment has continued despite a restraining order against one of their neighbours and increased police surveillance.
• Jade Andrews-Lewis, 27, and Lee Williams, 44, recount the traumatic effect these gunpoint raids have had on their lives.
By Mark S Redfern
Cover image: Jade Andrews-Lewis and her partner, Lee Williams, pictured outside their home in Bridgend.
When Jade decided to leave South London to move into a house in Pontycymer, Bridgend together with her partner Lee in late 2018, she expected a quieter life.
What they found instead was a campaign of racist harassment, including vile racist graffiti and the prosecution of one of her harassers in Cardiff Magistrates for racially-aggravated assault.
Despite all this, however, Jade Andrews-Lewis, 27, and her partner Lee Williams, 44, have been subject to two raids by armed South Wales Police officers at their home in the quiet village, both for alleged firearm offences.
The first raid happened on the morning of 3 September 2020, just a month before the conviction of their neighbourhood harasser. Cops with MP5 machine guns barricaded the door with a riot shield and ordered for the occupants dressed in their pyjamas to come out with their hands up.
Jade and Lee were cuffed to be told the police were acting on an anonymous tip-off that there was a firearm in the property, only to find that the deadly weapon was in fact a BB gun.
The airsoft rifle in question was painted as an imitation for sporting use in local airsoft sites, but the couple told voice.wales that it was only ever taken outside the property in its carry-case.
Jade and Lee also told voice.wales that cops at the scene had informed them that they were acting on CCTV evidence that allegedly showed Lee brandishing a weapon in the middle of his street. This video evidence has never materialised and the couple were not prosecuted.
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Lee had made the decision to get rid of the BB gun if armed police attempted a second raid to give them no reason to even suspect wrongdoing. Little did he know at the time, a second armed raid would take place in January 2022, just over a year after the first.
A month before the first raid, however, a neighbour of the couple had been convicted of racially-aggravated assault on Jade. This resulted in a restraining order being issued by the courts in an effort to curb their criminal behaviour.
However racist harassment in the community persisted. In June 2021 a racial slur was scratched into the tarmac of a backpath just a stone’s throw away from where Jade and Lee live.
The couple would often be seen dog-walking along the path around the time that the graffiti appeared. Jade is one of the few minority ethnic members in the community of Pontycymer, and as such can’t see whe else it could be directed at: “Where it was out in public, it felt like they wanted me to see.”
The second gunpoint raid happened only recently, on 21 January 2022 at 11pm, whilst the couple were winding down. Bridgend cops again went to Jade and Lee’s house armed to the teeth, anticipating a violent confrontation.
The video of this raid recorded by Jade, shared with voice.wales, below, shows officers at their doorstep with a bullet-proof shield with machine guns drawn and trained on Jade and Lee as they emerged from the house, compliant with all police orders.
Green lasers can be seen in the video hovering around Jade whilst she films, taking cover by the door to their front room. The police later told the couple they were acting on intelligence from another anonymous tipoff in the area that the couple had made threats to kill a neighbour and had access to a firearm.
This time Jade and Lee were arrested and detained in police cells for twelve hours before being interviewed and subsequently released with no further investigation.
Regardless of the lack of criminal charges, the raids have had a profound effect on both Jade and Lee.
Jade had to move back in with her family in south London for a period because the tension in the area became too much to bear. She told voice.wales: “After the recent one, in January, especially after spending the night in the cell, which had been the first time for me, three days after [the second raid] I told my doctor that since it happened I just do not feel present.”
“I felt like I was stuck in that moment when the police were raiding the house, or the time when I was in the cells. It just left me feeling really withdrawn. Going back to London for that break definitely helped a lot, being away from this situation and the place that it happened in. But I feel it had a lasting effect. I’m more on edge, I’m more alert, more wary.”
“There was a day not too long ago when I was in London. I was walking around my local town, Putney… I was walking down the street and I saw two police vans and a police car. As soon as I saw those my heart rate just started thumping. I was sweating… It felt like someone was choking me.”
“It’s made me a lot more weary.”
Lee, having served in the armed forces, saw the experience triggering his pre-existing anxiety. He also found difficulty when Jade went back to live with her family in London for a short period after the second raid, being forced to live apart from his partner because of the stress endured by living in the town and the interaction with South Wales Police.
Now the couple want to move away from Bridgend permanently but face difficulty navigating the slow process of dealing with council housing waiting lists. Lee added: “We had a lovely house coming along. If you have a walk around and take a look now you’ll see neither of us have the heart to keep it tidy. Because we don’t want to be here.”
Black Lives Matter Cardiff and Vale are vocal in damning the situation the couple have been placed in: “Jade and her family, victims of racial harassment by their neighbours, instead of being helped by the state, are targeted even more racial harassment at the hands of the police.”
“No family should have to deal with the trauma of being raided at gunpoint, especially by those who we are told are here to ‘protect and serve’.”
South Wales Police did not initially respond to requests for comment, but following the publication of this article, released the following statement to voice.wales:
“We cannot confirm specific details about individual cases, however armed officers may be deployed – often as a precautionary measure – when acting on information which suggests there may potentially be a risk to the safety of officers or the public when carrying out operational duties.”
“All the information available is assessed by a senior officer who will make decisions with officer and public safety being a priority.”
“Wherever there is evidence of false or malicious reporting, we will always investigate and aim to prosecute those responsible. In this instance, there was no evidence available which could support that action.”
“This has been explained to those involved but we will make further contact to ensure we have addressed any concerns or further questions that they may have.”
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