By Jason Evans

Copyright walesonline

A man who calls himself “the hardest man in Port Talbot” issued a series of lurid threats to people including to rip out their eyeballs and eat them, a court has heard. Swansea Crown Court heard that the 41-year-old went on to stalk a woman, including turning up at her home in the early hours of the morning and talking to her daughter. The defendant’s barrister said his client had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and had spent many years engaging with mental health services but “appears to be outside the boundaries of treatment”. He said there had to be “concerns for the future” when the defendant was released back into the community. Sarah John, prosecuting, told the court that the first set of offending involved Clayton Jones’ interactions with staff at the Forge mental health centre in Port Talbot in January this year. She said that in a series of calls to the centre the defendant demanded money, and when told that was not possible, began issuing threats. During the calls Jones called himself “the hardest man in Port Talbot” and began threatening to kill a member of staff and then kill himself, and saying they had better send armed police officers “or the SAS”. He also issued threats against a female member of staff saying he was going to get a blade and cut her eyeballs out and slit her jugular vein, saying “it would be worth doing a 12-year stretch for”. Jones then turned up at the Forge and tried to get in. The defendant was arrested at lunchtime on January 29 and answered “no comment” to all questions asked in interview. He was then released on bail. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter The court heard the second piece of offending involved Port Talbot Civic Centre where Jones was a regular visitor, “persistently” demanding money as well as food vouchers and mobile phones. The prosecutor said the defendant again issued a series of threats including that he would rip out a staff member’s eyeballs and “chew” them then report back on how they tasted. Jones then began stalking a female member of staff who works at the Civic Centre, including turning up at her home in the early hours of the morning, knocking on her door, and speaking to her daughter. The defendant then began talking to the woman outside the Civic Centre and asking her about whether she was single or not, and he was seen sitting on the kerb outside her house. The prosecutor said Jones was arrested after turning up at the Civic Centre on May 21 demanding money and a bus pass. The court heard that the defendant was “verbally aggressive” to officers on his way to the police station and subsequently threatened to slit an officer’s jugular the next time he saw him. Clayton Jones, formerly of Viscount Court, Neath Road, Briton Ferry , but now of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, a public order offence, and stalking when he appeared in the dock for sentencing via videolink from prison. He has seven previous convictions for 11 offences including four batteries – involving staff at the Forge centre, a man in a car park who he punched in the face, and a former partner who he kicked and pushed into a wall – and public order matters. Following the car park attack in 2021, the defendant was made the subject of a hospital order under the Mental Health Act. His last convictions is from January this year when he was given a 12-month conditional discharge for threatening to strangle and kill his neighbour in Briton Ferry. Jon Tarrant, for Jones, said the defendant had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and had spent many years engaging with mental health services but “appears to be outside the boundaries of treatment”. He said there had to be “concerns for the future” when the defendant was released from the custodial sentence he was facing. Judge Paul Thomas KC said Jones had issued “threats to kill in the most lurid of terms” before going on to stalk a public servant, behaviour which had significantly impacted the woman’s life. He told the defendant: “It is quite clear to me you have an uncontrollable temper, no doubt down to your emotionally unstable personality disorder”. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas to making threats to kill and the public order matter the defendant was sentenced to two years in prison, and with a 20% discount for his guilty plea to stalking – a plea entered later in the court process – was sentenced to 18 months in prison to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of three-and-a-half years. Jones will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice