A man who repeatedly stands in the middle of a busy street and blocks traffic until he is stopped, then refuses to speak to anyone, has done it again. David Hampson repeated this behavior for almost a decade, but his silence means the reasons for his actions remain unknown.

Hampson was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2021 after a jury ruled he was “mute from malice” rather than “mute from the visitation of God” and found him guilty of criminal trespass by blocking the road near Swansea. Central Police Station. After his release, he returned to the road near the police station and blocked traffic three times, and has now been sent back to prison.

During his years of crime, the 53-year-old refused to stand trial and refuse to speak to police, lawyers, court officials, probation officers, magistrates, judges and a psychiatrist. Earlier, the judge said he considered the defendant’s deliberate silence the result of his “admirable arrogance and audacity.”

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Lucy Mansfield, prosecuting, told Swansea Magistrates’ Court that on October 17 this year police were alerted to a man making a traffic stop in Grove Place, opposite Swansea Police Central Station. When they went to investigate, they found Hampson. The defendant was taken aside and spoken to, but did not communicate with the police. Police advised him to leave the area, but he walked straight back onto the road and was arrested. The following day, Hampson appeared before the magistrates charged with obstructing the road, but refused to speak or acknowledge the court, and upon pleading not guilty, pleaded not guilty on his behalf. The defendant was released on bail pending trial, left the courtroom and returned to the road. He was arrested again, charged and remanded in custody to face trial.

Hampson again refused to speak when he appeared in the dock this week, did not contest the charge or offer a defense and was found guilty of two counts of obstructing a highway. He was sentenced to six months in prison. The 53-year-old will serve half of his sentence before being released on license to serve the remainder in the community.

Hampson has repeated a similar pattern of blocking roads and then remaining silent since 2014, when he was placed on two years’ probation for four counts of willfully obstructing the free passage of a highway. The following year, he was found guilty of disorderly conduct for the same conduct and was the subject of his first felony warrant. However, his behavior continued and he was later given a prison sentence after being found guilty of breaching a court order in 2016, 2017 and again in 2018 when he was sentenced to 42 months in prison. For the latest court reports, subscribe to our crime newsletter here

On 3 December 2021, Hampson was arrested outside Swansea Police Central Station after blocking the road at the junction of Mount Pleasant and St De La Beche. The defendant was initially arrested under the Mental Health Act and when identified on his driving license was arrested for breaching a criminal behavior order. He responded neither to the warning nor to the accusation. He also remained silent the following day when he appeared at Swansea Magistrates’ Court and the case was transferred to Swansea Crown Court.

The defendant remained silent during his Superior Court appearance on May 13, and because he refused to speak when asked to plead guilty, a guilty plea was entered on his behalf and the case went to trial in July. Before the jury could decide whether or not Hampson obstructed the highway, they had to determine whether he was “mute from malice” or “mute from the visitation of God,” that is, whether he could have spoken but chose not to. lo, or if he had any physical or other problem that prevented him from speaking. After hearing evidence from prison officers who claimed that the defendant had spoken to them whilst detained at HMP Swansea, the jury concluded that he had remained deliberately mute and later found that he had effectively blocked the road and that his criminal conduct had been a disturbance. of public order. .

Following the jury’s findings, the judge ordered Hampson to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in the hope that this could shed light on his behavior and suggest possible help that could be offered to him. However, the defendant refused to speak to the court-appointed doctor, so the interrogation did not take place. In response to his refusal to cooperate, the court ordered that his medical records be produced and turned over to a psychiatrist so that certain information about him and his background could be known.

In August, the case went to court for a medical report, and the doctor concluded that although Hampson’s mutism was “selective and intentional,” there may have been social or financial “stresses” that contributed to his decision not to speak. The doctor said he could not diagnose any psychiatric or other condition and therefore could not recommend hospitalization as a means of treating the defendant.

At that hearing, Judge Hugh Rees said Hampson’s decision not to speak may well have been due to “social stress”, but he believed the defendant’s silence was the result of “admirable arrogance and audacity” on his part. Hampson, who had no fixed address, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

The validity period of the resolution on criminal liability applied to the accused has expired.

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