Two men beat up and robbed a homeless man outside a Swansea church, a court has heard. Brandon Dobbs and Morgan Kemble repeatedly punched and kicked the man and struck him with a pair of crutches.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said the facts of the case were “truly disturbing” and said while only the 20-year-old defendants could explain why they had carried out the attack he suspected it had been “fuelled by drink and or drugs”. Both men have been sent to a young offenders institution with a warning from the judge that they need to decide what kind of future they want for themselves.
Ryan Bowen, prosecuting, told the court that on November 6 last year the defendants encountered a homeless man on the streets of Swansea and fell into conversation with him. He said the homeless man offered to show Dobbs and Kemble where they could buy controlled drugs, and the trio set off for High Street.
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The court heard that when the men got to the church near the top end of High Street there was nobody there supplying drugs, and at that point Dobbs and Kemble turned on their victim. The homeless man tried to run away but was caught and beaten by Dobbs and Kemble with a pair of crutches they found laying on the ground near the church. When the victim went to the floor he was repeatedly punched and kicked. The pair then went through his pockets and bags and took his phone and wallet before walking off towards High Street railway station. The victim followed the pair to the station where Dobbs told him he had a “shank” before punching him again.
The court heard that the robbery was reported to police and officers carried out an area search for the suspects. The defendants were located on The Strand and arrested. Kemble was noted to have blood stains on his clothes. In their subsequent police interviews the defendants answered “no comment” to most of the questions asked. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here.
Brandon Dobbs, of Park Street, Bridgend, and Morgan Kemble, of Church Avenue, Brackla, Bridgend, had both previously pleaded guilty to robbery when they appeared in the dock for sentencing. Dobbs has two previous convictions for four offences namely affray, possession of a bladed article, criminal damage, and a non-dwelling burglary. He was given a 15-month suspended sentence for those matters and the Swansea robbery was committed while he was subject to that sentence. Kemble has five previous convictions for nine offences, all dated from 2024. He was subject to a community order at the time of the robbery.
Rhodri Chudleigh, for Dobbs, said the defendant was “apologetic and remorseful” for his actions. He said the defendant had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and personality disorder, and said there had been a “decline in his mental health” in the autumn of 2024 along with substance misuse. He said Dobbs had left home at the age of 15 and had had little contact with his family since then and feels that “the people he was mixing with – the co-defendant and others – were leading him astray”. The advocate said Dobbs had been doing numeracy and literacy skills while being held on remand as well as the 12 Steps addiction programme, and said on his eventual release from custody Dobbs wants to move to a different part of south Wales to get away from his peer group.
Adam Sharp, for Kemble, said at the time of the robbery the defendant was himself homeless after his behavioural and substance misuse issues meant he could no longer live with his adoptive parents, issues which he said had also led to the defendant losing his job as a bricklayer. He said his client had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and was dyslexic, and said the defendant was aware that his father was in prison serving a life sentence. He added that before May 2024 his client had not had involvement with the criminal justice system, and said Kemble was now reconciled with his adoptive family.
Judge Geraint Walters said the facts of the offence were “truly disturbing”. He said the two defendants had encountered a homeless man who was not much older than they were and “things turned nasty” when they were unable to buy drugs and the pair set upon their victim. He said only the two defendants knew why they had behaved in the way they had but he said he suspected the incident was “fuelled by drink and or drugs”.
With one-quarter discounts for their guilty pleas the defendants were each sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution. Judge Walters activated six months of Dobbs’ previously imposed suspended sentence and ordered it to be served consecutively to the new sentence making an overall sentence of three-and-a-half years in his case. The defendants will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The judge revoked the community order Kemble was subject to.
Sending the defendants down Judge Walters told them: “Mark my words: If this is the way you are going to play it in the future you can look forward to spending an awful lot of time in prison. Now is the time to decide to put this behind you and decide to lead lives that even you may be proud of one day.”
Speaking after the sentencing South Wales Police detective constable Samera Sabir said: “Violent crime will never be tolerated in our communities, and our officers acted swiftly to bring Brandon Dobbs and Morgan Kemble into custody following their assault of the victim. We are always working to bring violent offenders to justice, and this sentencing is just the latest example of this. We hope that these two men will now think hard about their actions whilst in custody.”
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