Drunk farmworker tried to torch mobile home, but lighter failed

A DRUNKEN farmworker tried to torch a colleague's caravan and car following a dispute between the two men, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS Reporter [e-mail]

Janis Dambrans poured petrol over the vehicle and the steps of the mobile home, but failed to ignite the accelerant when he couldn't operate a cigarette lighter.

Swansea Crown Court heard Dambrans went on to stick a carving knife into the wall of his victim's caravan, and then to threaten to burn down the boss' property.

The defendant's advocate described the actions on the farm as "foolish" and as being "committed in the midst of a drunken stupor".

David Singh, prosecuting, told the court that Dambrans and the complainant both worked on a large agricultural business with holiday lets in Crundale, near Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire.

He said both men were originally from the same part of Latvia, with the defendant having worked on the site for around two years, while the complainant had worked there for two decades.

The court heard there seemed to be no issues between the men until the summer of 2024, when some kind of dispute arose which became physical, and on one occasion Dambrans picked up a piece of wood and tried to hit his fellow countryman with it.