A mother with a newborn baby was subjected to a terrifying campaign of violence after a man and woman armed with baseball bats, a meat cleaver, a long knife, and a golf club targeted her family’s homes in Newport.
Benjamin Sicolo, aged 37, and Chelsea Lyddon, aged 29, appeared in the dock for sentence at Cardiff Crown Court having pleaded guilty to offences including burglary and criminal damage following a bitter falling-out between former friends, with Sicolo also admitting possessing a bladed article.
The court heard that Lyddon launched a chilling threat against victim Layla Wallace, her mother Louise Fielding, and their children, declaring: “Watch, you’re all f***. Layla, your mum, the kids. You’re f*****.”
On 29 May, the pair descended on Fielding’s Newport home, where Wallace was staying with her children, including her newborn baby. Wearing a balaclava, Sicolo wielded a metal baseball bat and smashed a living room window, showering Fielding with broken glass.
The intimidation escalated on 2 June, when the pair returned to the property with Sicolo carrying a long knife before hurling a brick through another window. Later that same day, Sicolo and Lyddon targeted Wallace’s own home—with Lyddon smashing windows and glass door panels with a golf club while Sicolo, armed with a meat cleaver, entered the property. Wallace returned to find her home trashed, with belongings scattered everywhere.
In a victim impact statement read to Cardiff Crown Court, the terrified mother explained that she genuinely believed the attackers intended to hurt her family. Left unable to sleep, Wallace ultimately had to be relocated for her own safety, separating her from the close support of her mother.
The court was told that Sicolo had 30 previous convictions on his record, including offences involving robbery, weapons, drugs, and violence, while Lyddon had five previous convictions involving disorderly behaviour.
Passing sentence at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Paul Hobson condemned their actions as a “campaign of lawless and frightening behaviour”, telling the defendants directly that their conduct could not be justified.
Judge Hobson sentenced Benjamin Sicolo, 37, to three years and six months’ immediate imprisonment, while Chelsea Lyddon, 29, received a three-year prison sentence suspended for three years alongside mental health treatment and rehabilitation requirements. Both defendants were also made subject to 10-year restraining orders.
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