A 26-year-old Caerphilly man who suffered a serious head injury in an assault opposite a Caerphilly town pub has died, police have confirmed.
Jake Sweeney, who was originally from Abertridwr, was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff following the assault in the early hours of Sunday August 24 and passed away yesterday afternoon, Thursday August 28.
A 23-year-old man from Caerphilly who was originally arrested on suspicion of GBH with intent and released on police bail pending further enquiries, has been rearrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in police custody.
Thousands of tributes have been paid to Mr Sweeney on social media.
A page set up before Mr Sweeney died, called PrayforJake has attracted thousands of well-wishers.
A message posted on the site yesterday read: “Sadly, Jake has passed away. No words can express the loss of a truly amazing young man. My heart goes out to his family and closest friends. I cannot begin to imagine the pain and hurt they now face.
“Jake will never be forgotten. From the hopes and prayers for his recovery, it shows how popular and loved he was. Now a community has come to a complete stand-still to remember him. Sleep peacefully Jake xxxxx.”
Mr Sweeney’s father Mark also used Facebook to pay tribute to his son.
He posted: “Absolutely devastated and heartbroken. The pain is unbearable. Can’t believe he’s gone and I’ll never see him again. Love him with all my heart. My life will never be the same again.
“Goodnight son.”
The assault which claimed Mr Sweeney’s life happened on the taxi rank opposite the Irish Tymes pub on Station Terrace at 1.45am on Sunday.
Two further men, both aged 21 and from Caerphilly, arrested on suspicion of affray, have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
DCI Roger Fortey leading the investigation said; “This is an extremely tragic incident that has resulted in the loss of a young man’s life. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
“We are keen to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity of the Irish Tymes pub between 1am and 2am on Sunday August 24, you may have information that could assist. Please get in touch by calling 101.”
As I have stated previously on this website, such criminals deserve to met with the death penalty or public humiliation. A stay at the all-inclusive, 5* HM Holiday Camp Belmarsh is not a fitting punishment.
They are scum and the streets should be cleared of this scum … scum and alcahol don’t mix ….
Dean and Nights are both right, a young man’s life has been tragically taken from him and the people responsible for this heinous crime should never freely walk the streets again, what kind of a sick world do we live in when a young man goes out to socialise and enjoy himself and never returns home, as Dean says prison is no punishment for these murderers they should be strung up.
I used to love going out on a weekend with my partner for a few drinks in Caerphilly but there is always someone who cant handle their drink trying to start a fight with someone, where is the police when trouble kicks off they are no where to be seen til someone gets hurt they should have more police on foot patrol at least it lets the trouble makers know start trouble your knicked
When I started going into pubs in Caerffili in the 1970’s there was a very visible police presence. On Fridays and Saturdays policemen used to walk into all the pubs and speak with staff and anyone who appeared worse for drink or behaving aggressively.
They could, and did, arrest drunken people who would appear before magistrates on Monday morning. I don’t know why this practise ceased as it did have a beneficial effect on people’s behaviour. I recall that the town centre was very much busier than today with four more pubs and the Camelot night club but police were keeping an eye on the situation and were available to help.
Also police wore dark uniforms with no ‘hi-vis’ and used to stand in shadows where they could observe without being easily seen themselves. We seem to have lost these very effective crime prevention measures, police are on duty and I have seen them on foot patrol many times but they rarely enter pubs. Perhaps a rethink on how to police town centres is overdue?
There’s normally a police presence outside the Irish Tymes and the Court House during the later hours of the night…. Not sure why there wasn’t that night though, maybe things would have been different if they were.
My heart goes to jakes family and friends and i will like to say that Jason Grovell is my thrid cousin and i wish he gets life for what’s he has done to this lovely family and thank you from ms Gwyneth Grovell