A pensioner from Pendine has been jailed for child abduction and drug offences. Seventy-three-year-old Richard Knight was sentenced to three years and nine months after he admitted to abducting a teenage girl, making indecent images of children, and being concerned with the supply of drugs.

Dyfed-Powys Police received a call in the early hours of Monday, April 11, 2022, from a concerned mother, who was worried the welfare of her 15-year-old daughter.

That night, the teenage daughter made a distressed phone call to her mum, saying she wanted to come home having taken drugs at Richard Knight’s house.

Police immediately attended the address but received no answer at the door. With concern growing for the young girl, officers forced entry into the property where they found a small cannabis grow, but no people inside.

Officers became aware that Knight had used his car to return the girl home. Knight subsequently returned to his home address where he was arrested by officers on suspicion of drink driving, possession of cannabis with intent to supply, and supplying cannabis to his teenage victim.

With Knight taken into police custody, a further property search found a variety of controlled drugs believed to be kept for personal use. Several digital devices were also seized from the house.

During an interview, the victim told officers that while she had agreed to meet with Knight, she believed he knew that she was 15 years old, and he also knew that she wouldn’t be telling her mother where she was going.

She told officers about the range of drugs she was given, and that some were provided to her on a fruit pastel sweet. CCTV enquiries showed Knight in the local Spar shop buying fruit pastels that same afternoon, before picking the teenager up and driving her to his house.

A thorough forensic examination of the drugs and the devices seized from the house led to the suspect being further arrested in December 2022.

Work carried out by the Digital Forensics Unit found a total of 1101 unlawful images on Knight’s devices, with 122 of them falling in category A – the most serious type of indecent image.

Drugs experts at Dyfed-Powys Police valued the cannabis grow at his property to be worth between £6,000 and £20,000. In addition to the cannabis, officers also seized six different types of Class A drugs from the address.

Following a lengthy and complex investigation, Knight was charged with 12 offences including child abduction, possession of indecent images of children, and being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

Knight admitted the drug offences on 10 April 2025 and entered further guilty pleas for the three counts of making indecent images of children at a second hearing on 12 May 2025.

The defendant denied the child abduction charge, and a trial was set to take place at Swansea Crown Court on Monday, January 12, 2026. Knight changed his plea immediately before the trial was due to start.

The 73-year-old was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail on February 12.

The officer investigating this case, Detective Constable Jon Gouldson, said: “This was a very serious case involving a man who groomed a young and vulnerable girl for his own satisfaction.

“There is no doubt that Richard Kight knew that taking this 15-year-old girl into his home was wrong and ultimately amounted to child abduction.

“Taking a child without a parent’s permission is a crime. There are no grey areas here.

“It is unlawful to take, or keep, a child under the age of 16 without permission of their parent or someone who has parental responsibility for them.

“We welcome today’s sentencing and want to be clear that arranging to take a child without a parent's permission, or creating/possessing indecent images of children is illegal and has serious consequences.

“Today’s result shows that we will do everything we can to investigate these crimes and bring such offenders to justice.”

If you are concerned about your own thoughts, feelings or behaviour towards underage children either online or in person, there is help available.

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation carries out crucial work to deter potential criminal behaviour by engaging with adults who recognise they are having sexual thoughts about children.

You can find out more here: Stop It Now - Preventing child sexual abuse