A TOP racehorse trainer whose horse won the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow has been jailed for three years for battering a pensioner with a hockey stick and breaking his arm in an "appalling attack".

Evan Williams, who trained 2020 winner Secret Reprieve at his Vale of Glamorgan yard, was angry about poaching on his land, a court was told, but took his fury out on an innocent 70-year-old who was staying in a nearby holday cottage and taking his cockerpoo dog Gulliver for a walk.

Cardiff Crown Court heard he repeatedly struck Martin Dandridge when he launched the night-time assault in December 2024.

The 54-year-old, who had five successive top-four places in the Grand National from 2009-2013, denied causing grievous bodily harm but was convicted after a trial last month.

When Williams's family saw the light from Mr Dandridge's torch in their paddock, they jumped to the conclusion he was 'lamping' for rabbits and foxes with his dog.

Williams told two police officers while driving past to the paddock there were lampers on his land, but later claimed Mr Dandridge had been hurt after being pulled over by his out-of-control dog into a drainage hole.

Dismissing his claim as "nonsense", the prosecution said he was "filled with rage" over his previous experience with lampers and battered the pensioner with the stick while on his knees.

A victim statement from Mr Dandridge, said: "I was an independent and physically active person who enjoyed my hobbies. But since the attack I don't feel like the same person.

"I still have problems with my left arm and constant pain, it's a constant reminder of the assault."

David Elias KC, defending, said Williams – who was training some 120 racehorses at the time of the attack but is currently suspended – had 570 character references and a jail term would seriously impact his business, which employs 30 people.

He had also been threatened with a shotgun by poachers six weeks prior to the attack and told "they'd burn his house down", affecting his behaviour.

But while accepting his "heightened fear and vigilance" after the confrontation, Recorder Angharad Price told him: "This is an appalling offence. You had a choice that night, you could have waited and let the police deal with the situation but instead you urgently raced to the paddock to deal with it yourself.

"It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands."