SENTENCED | Man who spent two years on the run following chemical attack is jailed.

SENTENCED | Man who spent two years on the run following chemical attack is jailed.

Dean Mayze has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, after he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm following a chemical attack that left a man seriously injured in December 2022.

The 38-year-old businessman of Abercrave, was arrested by Romanian police on Friday 19 September 2025, after an international warrant was issued for his arrest.

The court heard how business owner Dean Mayze attacked a guest who was staying at his Hafan-y-Coed spiritual retreat in Abercrave, after an argument broke out between the pair.

It was told how, during the altercation, a chemical substance described as a ‘very strong alkaline’ was pulled from Mayze’s trousers, and launched into the victim’s eyes, nose and mouth.

Despite the victim’s desperate attempts to wash the chemical away, he was hospitalised with serious facial injuries, including the loss of part of his eye lens which required months of treatment.

Dyfed-Powys Police set out to arrest Mayze as part of their investigation but later found that the suspect had fled the country.

In total, Mayze had spent over two years evading police as he travelled through mainland Europe, all while facing serious criminal charges back in the UK.

As part of the attempt to escape police, Mayze’s parter and co-owner of the spiritual retreat, Jemma Webb, turned herself in to police and admitted to throwing the chemical and causing harm to the victim.

Further police enquiries found that Webb had been in regular contact with Mayze, even travelling to Europe to visit him, and was later charged with perverting the course of justice. 38-year-old Webb was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

In November 2023, Mayze was issued with a postal requisition to answer a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but failed to appear at his court hearing.

Arrest enquiries continued, and Mayze was eventually located in Romania, where was arrested before being brought back to the UK. He was remanded into custody on Friday 20 September.

Mayze appeared in court on 13 January 2026, where he denied the charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Instead, he entered a guilty plea to lesser charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm, which was accepted at the hearing.

Today, at Swansea Crown Court, Mayze was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Detective Inspector Christine Beaton said: “Today’s sentencing marks the conclusion of a lengthy and complex investigation bring Dean Mayze before the courts, to face the consequences of his vile actions in 2022.

“I want to thank the investigation team who worked tirelessly to bring Mayze back to the UK, and to the public for sharing and responding to our appeal to find this dangerous offender.

“We will not tolerate violence in any measure here in Dyfed-Powys, and this result shows that we will not relent in our pursuit of such offenders.”