Grand National trainer jailed for attacking dog walker with hockey stick

A prominent Grand National trainer who built his reputation on top-level racing has been jailed for three years after repeatedly striking a 72-year-old dog walker with a hockey stick on his property in south Wales.

Richard Evan Rhys Williams, known in racing as Evan Williams, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after being convicted in March of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The jury reached a unanimous verdict after about 90 minutes. Recorder Angharad Price told Williams he should have called the police rather than taking matters into his own hands.

The attack took place on December 4, 2024, in Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, where Martin Dandridge had been staying in a holiday cottage near Williams’ racehorse training centre. Dandridge, from Swindon in Wiltshire, was walking his cockerpoo, Gulliver, and using a torch because it was dark when the confrontation unfolded. He suffered severe injuries, including a fractured arm.

Court reports said Williams was accompanied by jockey Conor Ring when he confronted Dandridge after seeing lights from a headlamp and the illuminated collar on the dog. Williams reportedly believed the man on his land might be a lamper or poacher. The judge referred to an earlier incident about six weeks before the assault, when Williams had disturbed poachers on his land and was allegedly threatened with a shotgun. That background, however, did not excuse the violence that followed.

The sentence lands hard in a sport that prizes discipline, reputation and public image. Williams had been due to have runners at the Cheltenham Festival around the time of his conviction, and racing coverage said he had led the Welsh trainer standings in the British jumps trainers’ championship for 11 straight seasons. He trained Secret Reprieve, winner of the rearranged Welsh Grand National at Chepstow in 2020, and had saddled four Grade 1 winners.

The case now leaves racing with a question that reaches beyond one trainer’s career: how governing bodies respond when a high-profile insider crosses from competitive prestige into violent criminal conduct away from the track. Reports said Williams ceased being a licensed trainer after the conviction, a necessary step but also a reminder that accountability in elite sport cannot stop at the stable gate.