THESE six defendants were recently handed prison sentences for crimes such as assault, blackmail, drug dealing, attempted rape and attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child.

We look at their cases.

(Image: Aneliese Buchanan. Gwent Police) A woman who assaulted two schoolgirls with a candlestick and a hammer has been jailed for seven years.

Aneliese Buchanan, 38, from Newport was convicted by a jury of using violence in the city against two victims who are under 18.

They cannot be named because of their ages.

The defendant was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm and assault against one victim and assault against the second.

(Image: Scott Edmunds. Gwent Police) A man tried to rape a woman during a harrowing 40-minute ordeal after he had pestered her to snort cocaine.

Scott Edmunds, 35, from Caerphilly overpowered his victim and sexually assaulted her in her own home.

The defendant “wouldn’t take no for an answer” throughout the sustained incident in the summer of 2021.

Edmunds was jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being convicted following a trial.

(Image: Jonathan Ridout. Gwent Police) A masked man armed with a hockey stick burst into his terrified elderly neighbour’s home and blackmailed him for cash.

Jonathan Ridout, 41, a family man with a respectable job committed the offence in Blackwood over the summer in what was described as a “bizarre” case.

His barrister Alice Sykes said her client had suffered a mental breakdown and was addicted to gambling and drinking heavily at the time.

Ridout was jailed for two years and six months

(Image: Lewis Holton. Gwent Police) A thug who beat up a woman told her told her he was going to put a price on her head if she reported him to the police.

Lewis Holton, 24, from Newbridge had grabbed her by the hair, hit her with the back of his hand and bit her.

The defendant was made the subject of restraining order not to contact her – his third restraining order imposed for violence against women.

He was sent to prison for 23 months after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intimidating a witness.

(Image: Dawid Szkudlarek. Gwent Police) Drug dealer Dawid Szkudlarek left his girlfriend seriously hurt after crashing into a post during a high-speed police chase.

The 28-year-old from Cwmbran and Shannon Harris were taken to hospital after the defendant lost control of a Volkswagen Polo on Caerphilly Mountain this summer.

His partner’s injuries included a bleed on the brain, fractured ribs and collarbone and a wound to her scalp and ear.

Szkudlarek was jailed for three years after he admitted a number of offences.

(Image: Timothy Farrington. Gwent Police) A paedophile had a heart attack when cops knocked on his door to confront him over the ‘phone sex chats he’d had with two girls aged 12 and 13’.

Timothy Farrington, 55, from Cwmbran was blasted by a judge for his “vile, graphic and shocking” exchanges with two ‘schoolgirls’ who turned out to be decoys.

The defendant fell for a trap set by undercover police officers who were posing online as two underage children called Jess and Carys.

Father-of-three Farrington asked one of them if they wanted to meet up with him,

He was jailed for 26 months after pleading guilty attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and attempted sexual communication with a child.