A judge it was clear the defendant poses a danger to staff and customers
Julio Waters has been jailed and banned from every pub and bar in Wales(Image: South Wales Police)
A man has been banned from every pub in Wales after his latest outburst of violence in licensed premises.
Julio Waters – along with his dad Wayne – attacked a member of staff in a bar in Neath leaving the victim battered and bruised and having to fork out hundreds of pounds in dental costs. The assault happened after Waters Jnr had been told to leave the premises following a previous incident when he headbutted a customer in the face and was banned.
Swansea Crown Court 39-year-old Waters has a long history of violence in pubs in Neath and Swansea and has previously been banned from attending all licensed premises in Neath Port Talbot.
Locking up the defendant for his latest assault the judge said Waters clearly poses a danger to staff and customers in bars and said in banning him from all licensed premises in Wales he hoped he wasn’t simply passing the problem on to England.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told the court the first assault happened in August 2024 outside the Ambassador Hotel in Neath town centre. He said the victim was part of group of customers smoking and socialising outside the bar when Julio Waters and approached him and headbutted and punched him to the face without warning and for no apparent reason. Waters then walked off.
The court heard the assault was witnessed by a member of staff who called for an ambulance and waited with the casualty for help to arrive. While the employee was waiting he was approached by a female friend of Waters who handed him a phone. The defendant was on the line and told the member of staff to “get rid of the cameras” in reference to any potential CCTV evidence. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter.
The prosecutor said police viewed footage from the Ambassador and identified Waters as the assailant and he was then banned from the Ambassador by management. The defendant was interviewed on October 24 and answered “no comment” to all questions asked before being released under investigation.
The court heard that on May 23 last year the defendant was again in the Ambassador when he was approached by a member of security who told him he was not allowed to be at the premises. The court heard Waters initially queried the ban then said he wanted to tell the person he was with and was allowed to go into the bar’s pool room.
The court heard shortly afterwards Julio Waters’ father, 66-year-old Wayne, came out of the pool room and approached the bouncer threatening to “smash his face in” before headbutting him in the face. Both men then subjected the bouncer to a “barrage of blows” with Julio Waters alone punching the victim 12 times.
The prosecutor said customers and members of staff tried to intervene but were driven away by the aggression of the defendants until “at no small risk to themselves” people in the bar managed to stop the assault. The defendants then left the bar.
The court heard the father and son were interviewed on July 11 and both answered “no comment” to questions asked in interview. They were subsequently charged via postal requestion.
Julio Waters, of Bevan Avenue, Cadoxton, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for 26 offences including a series of offences of violence in bars.
The court heard that in 2009 he was convicted of ABH after kicking and punching a man in the face at Neath Workingmen’s Club; in 2014 he was convicted along with his dad of threatening behaviour in the Ambassador Hotel; in 2016 he was convicted of common assault after punching a man in Neath’s David Prothero pub after being asked to leave because he was banned; in 2019 he was convicted of common assault for attacking a member of staff at Neath’s Big Cam pub after being asked to leave because he was banned; in 2021 he was convicted of ABH for a “sustained attack” on a man in Merlin’s pub in Neath which saw him “spear tackling” his victim to the floor and repeatedly punching him in the face leaving the man with a fractured nose, cheek, and eye socket; and in 2024 he was convicted of battery after attacking a man following his ejection from a bar in Swansea‘s Wind Street. The court heard he he also has a conviction for affray from 2016 after headbutting a man on a train between Swansea and Neath.
Wayne Waters, of Priory Close, Bryncoch, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to ABH when he appeared alongside his son. He has previous convictions for 15 offences including an ABH from 1977 and the threatening behaviour he committed with his son in 2014.
David Singh, for Julio Waters, said the defendant was taking steps to address his alcohol issues including attending Alcoholics Anonymous. He said his client has a 12-year-old daughter and takes his parental responsibilities towards her seriously.
Dan Williams, for Wayne Waters, said the retired scaffolder had “significant mental and physical health issues” and regrets his involvement in what happened in the Ambassador which happened after his ex-wife, who acted as a carer for him, had gone to Spain and left him and his son in Neath.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Julio Waters he clearly poses a danger to customers and staff in licensed premises and said even if the sentence he was about to impose was of a length he could suspend he would not do so. With one-third discounts for his guilty pleas Waters was sentenced to 27 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was made subject to an exclusion order banning him from all licensed premises in Wales for two years. In making he order the judge said he hoped he wasn’t simply passing the problem on to England.
Addressing Wayne Walters the judge told him he should reflect on the example he had set his son and should feel a “great deal of shame and responsibility” for the way his offspring had turned out. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Wayne Walters was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 12 months and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to pay the member of staff in the Ambassador £1,000 in compensation. The judge told him he was lucky he was not following his son into custody.