Link: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/alexander-dighton-talbot-green-police-31400010
Credit: Conor Gogarty
Archive: https://archive.ph/wip/4Ie6q
Alexander Dighton pictured in 2015 when he won a trophy for a computer-aided design
Sunlight strikes the curtainless windows of the one-bedroom flat that Alexander Dighton called home. "He lived here two and a half years and he never put curtains in," says one of his old neighbours in the social housing estate. "That was Alex."
Shortly before 7pm on January 31, while clad in body armour, Dighton approached Talbot Green police station in Rhondda Cynon Taf with a knife, hatchet, and wooden pole. The 28-year-old threw a Molotov cocktail at a police van, which did not ignite, but he then managed to set another police van alight using petrol. He smashed the van's windows with the pole — which had metal attached to the end — before turning his attention to a group of officers who had arrived on the scene.
Neither a Taser nor pepper spray could stop Dighton as he launched a frenzied attack on the officers. He swung the pole at one, punched another to the head, and stabbed a third to the leg before finally being restrained. Two of the officers needed hospital treatment. Dighton later pleaded guilty to 10 charges — among them the attempted murder of DC Jack Cotton — and was remanded in custody ahead of next month's sentencing.
There has yet to be a detailed explanation of the motive. According to the Crown Prosecution Service the attack had "a terrorist connection" in that Dighton subscribed to an "anti-government ideology". There was perhaps a further hint in Dighton's words to the Old Bailey judge: "Authority is not my problem. It’s the use of authority which to me is the problem, the use of authority I have seen since I was 15."
We don't know what happened when Dighton was 15. What we do know is that he looked to be on a very different path in his youth. At the age of 18 he won a Wales-wide competition in advanced mechanical engineering for his computer-aided design of a wobbler engine.
At the time, the teen from Aberdare was studying engineering at Neath Port Talbot College and parametric modelling at Coleg y Cymoedd. There is nothing online about how the next few years unfolded for Dighton, who appears to have no social media presence. But around two and a half years ago he was among the first residents to move into Beacon housing association's Cwrt Tafarn estate, a new-build of 26 homes in Llantrisant, where he forged close bonds with a few of his neighbours. "He had a heart of gold," said one. "I never thought this would come of Alex. All of us are shocked."
When we visited Cwrt Tafarn on a sunny afternoon, not a single piece of litter could be seen in the quiet cul-de-sac. Near a well-tended patch of colourful flowers, a couple of residents sat on plastic chairs talking and enjoying the warm spring day. Before his arrest Dighton would sometimes join them. He was "so pleasant" and always keen to help others, they said, but in the few months before the attack his behaviour seemed more erratic. Without explanation he suddenly quit his airport job — despite a recent promotion — and he became embroiled in a conflict with another local resident.
For the majority of his time living in the estate Dighton was an eccentric but amiable presence, according to neighbours, who likened him to Sherlock Holmes because of his penchant for wearing an old-fashioned suit and greenish-brown waistcoat while smoking tobacco with a pipe. He was also fond of a round "Amish-style" hat. One neighbour told us: "Once I replaced the inner tube of my bike and he asked for the old one. He used it as a trouser belt.
Alexander Dighton during a social gathering with neighbours
"I'd see him in the morning smoking his pipe, and he'd doff his hat and say, 'Good morning to you, sir. Do you want anything up the shop?' Then sometimes I'd come home from a night shift and he'd be doing stretches outside at 4am. He'd stay up all through the night. He didn't have a TV but he'd be gaming and watching things on the internet."
Dighton did not have a bed and instead used a sleeping bag on the floor. "I offered to give him my single bed because I was getting a double, but he didn't want it," said one estate resident, who felt protective towards the young man and worried his mental health would suffer from the material he was accessing through the night. The content — which Dighton would discuss with neighbours the next day — ranged from news stories of dubious origin to outright conspiracy theories.
"He was on about children getting sex education at the age of three," said the neighbour. "He was on about five-year-olds in Germany being taught to w**k. And the police being child molesters and perverts. He told us he was on the dark web and he was 'looking into it deep'. He would talk about the government, then move onto the police, and then onto gaming, and then back to paedophiles. He had a massive problem with authority. I would say to him all the time: 'Get off the web. Whatever you're on, get off it.'"
Neighbours knew little of his life before moving to Llantrisant, although he had mentioned he was autistic. He had spoken vaguely of how his "head went" during a stint living in England as a younger man.
The Cwrt Tafarn estate in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf
One neighbour described him as "straight as a die" and "the most kind-hearted person", adding: "When someone in the area had an alcohol problem he would do shopping for her. If he went to a charity shop he would pay an extra tenner for charity on top of what he was buying. At one point he took a cat off a neighbour to save it from being on the streets. He'd take it straight to the vet if the slightest thing was wrong.
"I used to drive him to watch the banger racing at Standlake Arena in Oxfordshire. He'd film everything to show people at his work. One time he bought me a racing hat to say thank you, because I'd never take petrol money from him. He'd join us for cooked dinner sometimes and he'd always try to give us money for it."
Dighton's work involved making inflatable evacuation slides for planes. He did not own a car so cycled 12 miles to Cardiff Airport each day. A spokeswoman for the airport declined to provide a comment but said Dighton "did not work directly for the airport company".
"He'd had two promotions in two years," said one neighbour. "He had a very high level of intelligence. I know at one point he'd had an interview to be a teaching assistant at a school in Cardiff. I don't know why that didn't come off. He had the head for it."
On one occasion he opened up to feeling out of place in the modern world, telling his friends on the estate that he wished he had been born in the 1800s. One said: "He never had a partner. He was an attractive young man but he said he wasn't interested in women. He told me he wanted kids but he wasn't interested in women."
Neighbours believe a trigger for Dighton "cracking" was a dispute with a man who lived in the area. They claim Dighton made allegations that the man had been smoking drugs but that police did not take any action. Dighton's anger grew and on July 29 last year he committed a public order offence against the man. He received a conditional discharge after admitting he had caused harassment, alarm or distress.
The row was the first time his neighbours had seen him lose his composure and they believe it "sparked something in his head". His fixation on police intensified as he repeatedly complained they "only see the things they want to see". One neighbour said a relative of Dighton had urged him to see a GP about his mental health but he refused and told the family member "not to bother" with him anymore.
Around a month before the attack Dighton left his job. "He wouldn't speak about it," said one friend from the estate. "One day we had two people from the airport come here looking for him because he hadn't turned up for work. His manager said he was such a good worker and they wanted him back. I remember asking Alex if he was signing on for Universal Credit and he told me he had a few hundred pounds upstairs. I told him that wouldn't last long but he didn't say anything back."
On another day a police officer attended due to concerns Dighton had been missing from work. Residents recall Dighton coming out to the car park and jabbing his finger with uncharacteristic fury through the police car window. He allegedly barked at the officer: "P*** off, don't come here."
One day before the attack Dighton shaved off all his hair — which neighbours said had grown to resemble Doc Brown from Back to the Future — before spending part of the night pacing back and forth outside the flats, smoking his pipe. At around 12pm the next day Dighton gave a friendly greeting to a neighbour who was heading to work. "He said, 'Are you having a good day, sir?' I said yes and asked if he'd sorted out his Universal Credit. He just gave a shrug."
Hours later Dighton would commit terrifying crimes including the attempted murder of a police officer. Neighbours recall a large police presence and bomb squad taping off Cwrt Tafarn due to fears over what could have been in Dighton's flat. His friends on the estate felt a shock they have still not fully come to terms with.
"You don't do that to the police," said one. "I'm disgusted with him. We wish he would send us a letter to come and see him. The first thing I would say is: 'Why, Alex? The police were only doing their job.' I am really gutted."
Alexander Stephen Dighton (Image: South Wales Police)
The Old Bailey heard that searches of Dighton's home revealed journals containing anti-immigrant ideology. As well as the attempted murder, he has admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Sergeant Richard Coleman, assaulting PC Joshua Emlyn, threatening PC Stephanie Fleming with an adapted wooden pole, attempted arson of a police van, two counts of criminal damage to police property, and possession of an adapted wooden pole, knife and hatchet.
Before a sentence is passed the Old Bailey will hear evidence from the prosecutor to determine whether the attack had a terrorist purpose.
Credit: Conor Gogarty
Archive: https://archive.ph/wip/4Ie6q
Alexander Dighton pictured in 2015 when he won a trophy for a computer-aided design
Sunlight strikes the curtainless windows of the one-bedroom flat that Alexander Dighton called home. "He lived here two and a half years and he never put curtains in," says one of his old neighbours in the social housing estate. "That was Alex."
Shortly before 7pm on January 31, while clad in body armour, Dighton approached Talbot Green police station in Rhondda Cynon Taf with a knife, hatchet, and wooden pole. The 28-year-old threw a Molotov cocktail at a police van, which did not ignite, but he then managed to set another police van alight using petrol. He smashed the van's windows with the pole — which had metal attached to the end — before turning his attention to a group of officers who had arrived on the scene.
Neither a Taser nor pepper spray could stop Dighton as he launched a frenzied attack on the officers. He swung the pole at one, punched another to the head, and stabbed a third to the leg before finally being restrained. Two of the officers needed hospital treatment. Dighton later pleaded guilty to 10 charges — among them the attempted murder of DC Jack Cotton — and was remanded in custody ahead of next month's sentencing.
There has yet to be a detailed explanation of the motive. According to the Crown Prosecution Service the attack had "a terrorist connection" in that Dighton subscribed to an "anti-government ideology". There was perhaps a further hint in Dighton's words to the Old Bailey judge: "Authority is not my problem. It’s the use of authority which to me is the problem, the use of authority I have seen since I was 15."
We don't know what happened when Dighton was 15. What we do know is that he looked to be on a very different path in his youth. At the age of 18 he won a Wales-wide competition in advanced mechanical engineering for his computer-aided design of a wobbler engine.
At the time, the teen from Aberdare was studying engineering at Neath Port Talbot College and parametric modelling at Coleg y Cymoedd. There is nothing online about how the next few years unfolded for Dighton, who appears to have no social media presence. But around two and a half years ago he was among the first residents to move into Beacon housing association's Cwrt Tafarn estate, a new-build of 26 homes in Llantrisant, where he forged close bonds with a few of his neighbours. "He had a heart of gold," said one. "I never thought this would come of Alex. All of us are shocked."
When we visited Cwrt Tafarn on a sunny afternoon, not a single piece of litter could be seen in the quiet cul-de-sac. Near a well-tended patch of colourful flowers, a couple of residents sat on plastic chairs talking and enjoying the warm spring day. Before his arrest Dighton would sometimes join them. He was "so pleasant" and always keen to help others, they said, but in the few months before the attack his behaviour seemed more erratic. Without explanation he suddenly quit his airport job — despite a recent promotion — and he became embroiled in a conflict with another local resident.
For the majority of his time living in the estate Dighton was an eccentric but amiable presence, according to neighbours, who likened him to Sherlock Holmes because of his penchant for wearing an old-fashioned suit and greenish-brown waistcoat while smoking tobacco with a pipe. He was also fond of a round "Amish-style" hat. One neighbour told us: "Once I replaced the inner tube of my bike and he asked for the old one. He used it as a trouser belt.
Alexander Dighton during a social gathering with neighbours
"I'd see him in the morning smoking his pipe, and he'd doff his hat and say, 'Good morning to you, sir. Do you want anything up the shop?' Then sometimes I'd come home from a night shift and he'd be doing stretches outside at 4am. He'd stay up all through the night. He didn't have a TV but he'd be gaming and watching things on the internet."
Dighton did not have a bed and instead used a sleeping bag on the floor. "I offered to give him my single bed because I was getting a double, but he didn't want it," said one estate resident, who felt protective towards the young man and worried his mental health would suffer from the material he was accessing through the night. The content — which Dighton would discuss with neighbours the next day — ranged from news stories of dubious origin to outright conspiracy theories.
"He was on about children getting sex education at the age of three," said the neighbour. "He was on about five-year-olds in Germany being taught to w**k. And the police being child molesters and perverts. He told us he was on the dark web and he was 'looking into it deep'. He would talk about the government, then move onto the police, and then onto gaming, and then back to paedophiles. He had a massive problem with authority. I would say to him all the time: 'Get off the web. Whatever you're on, get off it.'"
Neighbours knew little of his life before moving to Llantrisant, although he had mentioned he was autistic. He had spoken vaguely of how his "head went" during a stint living in England as a younger man.
The Cwrt Tafarn estate in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf
One neighbour described him as "straight as a die" and "the most kind-hearted person", adding: "When someone in the area had an alcohol problem he would do shopping for her. If he went to a charity shop he would pay an extra tenner for charity on top of what he was buying. At one point he took a cat off a neighbour to save it from being on the streets. He'd take it straight to the vet if the slightest thing was wrong.
"I used to drive him to watch the banger racing at Standlake Arena in Oxfordshire. He'd film everything to show people at his work. One time he bought me a racing hat to say thank you, because I'd never take petrol money from him. He'd join us for cooked dinner sometimes and he'd always try to give us money for it."
Dighton's work involved making inflatable evacuation slides for planes. He did not own a car so cycled 12 miles to Cardiff Airport each day. A spokeswoman for the airport declined to provide a comment but said Dighton "did not work directly for the airport company".
"He'd had two promotions in two years," said one neighbour. "He had a very high level of intelligence. I know at one point he'd had an interview to be a teaching assistant at a school in Cardiff. I don't know why that didn't come off. He had the head for it."
On one occasion he opened up to feeling out of place in the modern world, telling his friends on the estate that he wished he had been born in the 1800s. One said: "He never had a partner. He was an attractive young man but he said he wasn't interested in women. He told me he wanted kids but he wasn't interested in women."
Neighbours believe a trigger for Dighton "cracking" was a dispute with a man who lived in the area. They claim Dighton made allegations that the man had been smoking drugs but that police did not take any action. Dighton's anger grew and on July 29 last year he committed a public order offence against the man. He received a conditional discharge after admitting he had caused harassment, alarm or distress.
The row was the first time his neighbours had seen him lose his composure and they believe it "sparked something in his head". His fixation on police intensified as he repeatedly complained they "only see the things they want to see". One neighbour said a relative of Dighton had urged him to see a GP about his mental health but he refused and told the family member "not to bother" with him anymore.
Around a month before the attack Dighton left his job. "He wouldn't speak about it," said one friend from the estate. "One day we had two people from the airport come here looking for him because he hadn't turned up for work. His manager said he was such a good worker and they wanted him back. I remember asking Alex if he was signing on for Universal Credit and he told me he had a few hundred pounds upstairs. I told him that wouldn't last long but he didn't say anything back."
On another day a police officer attended due to concerns Dighton had been missing from work. Residents recall Dighton coming out to the car park and jabbing his finger with uncharacteristic fury through the police car window. He allegedly barked at the officer: "P*** off, don't come here."
One day before the attack Dighton shaved off all his hair — which neighbours said had grown to resemble Doc Brown from Back to the Future — before spending part of the night pacing back and forth outside the flats, smoking his pipe. At around 12pm the next day Dighton gave a friendly greeting to a neighbour who was heading to work. "He said, 'Are you having a good day, sir?' I said yes and asked if he'd sorted out his Universal Credit. He just gave a shrug."
Hours later Dighton would commit terrifying crimes including the attempted murder of a police officer. Neighbours recall a large police presence and bomb squad taping off Cwrt Tafarn due to fears over what could have been in Dighton's flat. His friends on the estate felt a shock they have still not fully come to terms with.
"You don't do that to the police," said one. "I'm disgusted with him. We wish he would send us a letter to come and see him. The first thing I would say is: 'Why, Alex? The police were only doing their job.' I am really gutted."
Alexander Stephen Dighton (Image: South Wales Police)
The Old Bailey heard that searches of Dighton's home revealed journals containing anti-immigrant ideology. As well as the attempted murder, he has admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Sergeant Richard Coleman, assaulting PC Joshua Emlyn, threatening PC Stephanie Fleming with an adapted wooden pole, attempted arson of a police van, two counts of criminal damage to police property, and possession of an adapted wooden pole, knife and hatchet.
Before a sentence is passed the Old Bailey will hear evidence from the prosecutor to determine whether the attack had a terrorist purpose.
