Evan Williams Sentenced to Three Years: The Rise and Fall of Wales's Most Decorated Trainer

Evan Williams built his life around racehorses. Now his legacy faces permanent damage.

The 55-year-old trainer, who won the Welsh Grand National and produced multiple Grade One winners at the Cheltenham Festival, was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of attacking a 72-year-old dog walker on his own land.

Martin Dandridge had been walking on a public right of way through Williams's property at Llancarfan in south Wales when the trainer repeatedly struck him with a hockey stick. Dandridge, from Swindon, suffered a fractured arm among other injuries in the December 2024 assault.

Williams denied causing grievable bodily harm with intent, but a unanimous jury convicted him after just 90 minutes of deliberations at Cardiff Crown Court in March. On Tuesday, Recorder Angharad Price delivered the sentence.

"This is an appalling offence where you attacked Mr Dandridge causing him serious injuries," the judge told Williams. "I know that you fully understand that he is still living with the impact of your actions on that day 16 months ago."

The judge addressed the broader context — Williams had been threatened by poachers six weeks before the assault, with a shotgun held to him and his family. She acknowledged the fear he experienced. But the message was unambiguous.

"It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands," she said. "This sentence will be a lesson to you that it is always better to call the police if you think a crime is being committed."

Williams had a choice on that day, the judge noted — confront Dandridge himself or wait for the police who were already nearby. He chose violence.

The future of his training business is now in serious doubt. His barrister, David Elias KC, told the court: "If he isn't there, there is no business." Williams established Evan Williams Racing in 2003 and became one of Wales's most successful trainers, with five consecutive top-four finishes in the Grand National at Aintree between 2009 and 2013.

His horses included Secret Reprieve, winner of the 2020 Welsh Grand National at Chepstow. Last month, Ask Brewster — running under the name of his wife Cath, who took over the licence after Williams was found guilty — won the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

That success on the track will now be overshadowed by a court sentence that ends his freedom and possibly his career.