Mayhill: Ethan Powell's dad condemns Swansea disorder 'scumbags'

A father has said he does not want his late son's name "dragged through the mud" by "scumbags" who rioted after his vigil.

Cars were burnt out and windows smashed in Mayhill on Thursday after a balloon release for Ethan Powell, 19, who collapsed and died on Wednesday.

Seven arrests have already been made.

Mr Powell's father Jonathan Russ said: "We want it all to stop and we want to grieve in our own way, that's all we want."

He continued: "It's been very tough, I've lost my baby, my little boy.

"It was disgusting, I don't want [Ethan's] name to be dragged through the mud.

"They were supposed to go ahead to let balloons off, and then you've got scumbags who are turning up and causing all [those] riots."

He said he wanted his son to be remembered as a "cheeky chappie".

He said the rioters were not his son's friends.

"They've just gone out to cause trouble, it's disgusting," he said.

"They dragged [Ethan] through the mud, and if anyone thinks he's associated with that, he's not, I'm telling you now, no way.

"I hope the police come down hard on them. If there's one thing I hope it's that they don't lose a baby like I've lost a baby, because someone that night could have got killed."

Adam Romain, whose house was targeted after he tried to stop youths setting fire to his car, is leaving Swansea, saying: "I don't feel safe here any more."

He described bricks being thrown through windows while his girlfriend and children screamed, and feared his home would be looted.

While his children have now "bounced back", he added: "My partner is frightened, she's too scared to come home and I'm on a rollercoaster. Up and down, thinking I don't know where to point the anger sometimes."

Originally from Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, he has privately rented in Swansea since 2015, but now wants to move away from the area for the sake of his family.

He believes the events were part of "a bigger problem, a societal problem that didn't happen overnight", and called on those involved to think of more constructive ways to "express their pain and hurt in the future".

Mr Romain described another incident two months ago when a car was rolled down a hill, saying it was now too dangerous for children to play outside in Mayhill.

While talking to the authorities has made him realise the situation was "more shades of grey not black and white", he added: "I did feel like we were alone, I did feel like nobody was coming to help.

"My feeling was we would have to leave and take as many valuables as we could in case it became a looting."

His family have now moved out and Mr Romain has returned on a number of occasions to pack up belongings.

He said the rioters "brought shame" to the name of their friend who had died, telling them: "Don't throw your life away."

South Wales Police said more arrests were due to be made this week and facial recognition would be used to trace others following the violent disorder.

The force said eight others had been identified and those involved have been urged to hand themselves in.

Seven officers were injured during the incident on Waun-Wen Road and families described being trapped in their homes.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis told BBC Radio Wales: "Today we will be using our facial matching technology and we're going to use that to identify everybody. It works really well with masks.

"It takes key points on your face, around your eyes and key features and it compares them to previous photos we have.

"It has a very high rate of success."

Explaining why it had taken several days before arrests were made, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said: "When you arrest someone you take at least a couple of police officers off the street - but they are useful in reducing further offending and preventing any more bad things. Also, you can sometimes make a bad situation even worse."

On Saturday three men, aged 36, 20 and 18, and a 16-year-old boy, were arrested on suspicion of unlawful violence.

Three more men, aged 18, 21, and 23, were arrested on Sunday.

All have now been released on bail with a number of strict conditions, including a night-time curfew.