Trio armed with metal poles and walking sticks launched attack on man in his own garden

Shocking footage captured the moment a group of people carried out an unprovoked attack on a man in his own front garden armed with metal poles, walking sticks and a baseball bat, a court has heard. Sarah Nicholls, 41, Ryan Wallens, 31, and Ryan Ford, 34, were later found by police wearing clothing that matched footage of the attack filmed by a member of the public.

The court heard the three defendants were involved in an incident which took place on Thursday July 24, 2025, outside an address in North Cornelly, Bridgend.

All three were seen walking towards the address with weapons such as metal poles and walking sticks before carrying out the attack.

Footage filmed by a member of public showed them hitting the poles against the address before launching an unprovoked attack on a man in the front garden of the property.

Wallens was seen with a baseball bat; Ford was seen with a metal pole and Nicholls had a walking stick.

Officers found Wallens a short time after the incident wearing a dye hoody which was identical to the one in the footage. When searched a kitchen knife was located in his pocket.

A further search of where he was arrested identified a baseball bat and clothing was located discarded in the bushes.

A short time later Nicholls and Ford were located at their address and clothing matching that seen in the footage had been recovered.

The three defendants appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, January 8, where they changed their plea from not guilty to guilty of affray.

Nicholls, of Ynys Teg, Tondu, Bridgend; Wallens, of Trem Capel Y Til, Bridgend; and Ford, of Ted Davies Close, Bridgend were each sentenced to one year and three months imprisonment.

Detective Constable Matthew Evans from South Wales Police said: “This was a brazen and targeted attack in broad daylight, this investigation involved multiple teams conducting great work to put a case together This sentence shows that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour in our communities."