Evan Williams Jailed for Three Years Over Dog Walker Attack
Trainer Evan Williams has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, drawing a stark line under one of the most troubling court cases to involve a high-profile racing figure in recent years.
The 54-year-old was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday morning for attacking 72-year-old dog walker Martin Dandridge with a hockey stick in December 2024, having wrongly believed him to be a lamper – a type of poacher. Dandridge suffered a broken arm in the assault.
Recorder Angharad Price, delivering sentence, left no room for ambiguity about the gravity of the offence.
"This was an appalling offence, causing serious injury," she told Williams. "It is never acceptable to take the law into your own hands."
Those words hung heavily over a courtroom already braced for the impact of the verdict on both victim and trainer. Williams, long established as a respected figure in the National Hunt sphere, listened as his professional future was laid bare alongside his personal fate.
Training operation in jeopardy
The custodial sentence casts immediate and serious doubt over the future of Williams’ training business.
His barrister, David Elias KC, made that threat explicit as he argued for a suspended sentence, stressing how central Williams is to the yard’s operation.
"If he isn't there, there is no business," Elias told the court.
Williams’ training licence had already been transferred into the name of his wife, Cath, after last month’s conviction. On paper, that move allowed the operation at their Vale of Glamorgan base to continue. In practice, Elias suggested, it may not be so simple.
"It doesn't matter in whose name the licence is," he said. "It is Evan Williams who brings the racing knowledge and no one else."
The implication was clear: without the trainer on the ground, the viability of the stable – a fixture of the British jumps scene – is in serious question.
Extraordinary character support
Elias leaned heavily on Williams’ standing within the racing community as he sought leniency. He described what he called "an unprecedented number of testimonials" submitted in support of the trainer.
Williams’ solicitors received 570 character references, with more still arriving as the hearing approached. Of those, 102 were formally placed before the court and read by the judge ahead of sentencing.
The volume of support spoke to the depth of goodwill Williams had built over years in the sport. It did not, however, spare him a jail term.
The judge’s conclusion was that the seriousness of the attack, the deliberate nature of the harm, and the age of the victim demanded immediate custody.
A respected trainer, a shattered reputation, a business hanging by a thread – all now set against a three-year prison sentence for an assault born of a mistaken belief and a decision to take justice into his own hands.
