Prison worker assaulted woman before his brother collapsed his trial with vile texts

A man working at a prison in south Wales bit his partner and poured a bottle of milk over her to humiliate her, a court has heard.

After Jordan Roberts was charged with the assault, his older brother Corey sent threatening and intimidatory text messages to a member of the complainant’s family in a bid to stop her giving evidence against his sibling.

The texts worried the victim so much that she reconsidered whether she should go ahead with the case and the trial of the younger brother had to be abandoned.

A judge at Swansea Crown Court told Jordan Roberts that biting was something toddlers did, not grown men, and told Corey Roberts that he had no doubt that when he sent the messages in question he had intended they should deter the complainant from giving evidence.

Regan Walters, prosecuting, told the court that Jordan Roberts and the complainant in the case had been in a relationship for some three years when, in September 2023, she went to the defendant’s home to confront him about being unfaithful.

The prosecutor said the defendant became aggressive towards the complainant and bit her on the forearm before grabbing a bottle of milk and pouring it over her in an act of “gratuitous degradation”.

The court heard Roberts then called his victim’s mother and told her to come and collect her daughter. When the mum arrived at the Croeserw property she found her daughter sitting on the floor crying and with “dripping wet hair”.

The complainant was subsequently taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital where medics found circular bruising on her right forearm.

The prosecutor said Roberts was arrested and in interview claimed the victim had attacked him, and said he had been acting in self-defence. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter

Roberts was subsequently charged and pleaded not guilty, and on the day the trial was due to start the complainant disclosed that the defendant’s brother Corey had been intimidating her by sending text messages to her sister-in-law abusing her and her family.

She said the messages had caused her to be afraid and to reconsider whether she wanted to go ahead with the prosecution.

The court heard those disclosures meant the trial was abandoned and police began to investigate Corey Roberts.

Jordan Roberts, 30, of Penhydd Road, Croeserw, Cymmer, had previously pleaded guilty on the day of trial to assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Corey Roberts, 31, of Alma Street, Treherbert, Treorchy, had previously pleaded guilty to witness intimidation when he appeared in the dock alongside his sibling. He has three previous convictions for nine offences.

In June 2022 Corey Roberts was given a 33-week suspended sentence for battery, criminal damage, and dangerous driving, and was subject to this suspended sentence when he sent the threatening text messages.

In August 2025 Corey Roberts was given a 13-month suspended sentence for possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a bladed article, possession of an imitation firearm, possession of a prohibited weapon, and possession of a offensive weapon in a private place.

Joseph Hocquard, for Jordan Roberts, said the defendant had lost his job – a non-uniformed support role – at HMP Parc as a result of the conviction but had subsequently found alternative work with Dyfed Steels in Port Talbot docks. He said his client was remorseful for his behaviour and accepts there was no excuse for what he did on the day in question.

Matt Murphy, for Corey Roberts, said the defendant accepted that drug misuse was a factor in his life which needed addressing. He said his client realises he should not have behaved in the way he did, and he said Roberts’ life had changed since the offending before the court and his focus was now on working as a mechanic for a national company and providing for his partner and children so he could improve their lives.

Judge Paul Thomas KC told Jordan Roberts that he had carried out a “cowardly, bullying attack” on his partner and told him biting was something which toddlers did, not grown men.

With a 10% discount for his guilty plea Roberts was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and do 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Judge Thomas told Corey Roberts that he had no doubt that when the defendant had sent the threatening messages he had intended they should deter the complainant from giving evidence against his brother.

He said at the time of the offence Roberts was subject to a suspended sentence, and said following the offence he had been handed another suspended sentence for “concerning” weapons matters.

The judge said the defendant had shown little genuine remorse, and said any idea of rehabilitation at the present time was “fanciful”.

With a 10% discount for his guilty plea Corey Roberts was sentenced to 14 months in prison, and the judge activated 20 weeks of the suspended sentence which he was in breach of to run concurrently.

Roberts will serve 40% of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.