A judge said Gareth Davies, who was serving his sentence at HMP Parc, should be considered a dangerous offender when he was jailed earlier this year

22:43, 19 Dec 2025Updated 00:09, 20 Dec 2025

videoHeadlinePaedophile Gareth Davies recorded himself singing a Coldplay song

A “very calculating” paedophile who was jailed earlier this year for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child has died just months into his sentence. Gareth Davies, 59, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June following a trial at Swansea Crown Court which heard he had sent a video of himself singing a Coldplay love song to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

A spokesperson for HMP Parc, where Davies was serving his sentence, confirmed that Davies died in hospital on November 27. As is standard with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched an independent investigation into Davies’ death.

No cause of death has been released at this stage but it’s understood that Davies had been in hospital for some time prior to his death and was receiving palliative care. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here

Davies, previously of Castle Street, Swansea, was jailed earlier this year after being convicted of sending sexually explicit messages to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

In reality he was communicating with a member of a so-called paedophile hunter group operating a decoy account on Facebook, with members of the group later tracking him down to the boat he was living on.

When arrested Davies denied the messages he had been sending were sexual, a stance he maintained during his trial and to the author of the pre-sentence report following his conviction by a jury.

Man in his 60s with long grey hair. He is wearing a red polo shirt and has some stubbleGareth Davies died in hospital in November(Image: South Wales Police)

Swansea Crown Court heard that in the messages Davies told the “girl” she was pretty and said he had been “showing her off” to others. He told her she was his “special friend” and he referred to himself as her “cyber uncle”.

The court also heard Davies asked what he thought was a girl about whether she had had sex yet, telling her the first time would hurt but “if it is done right the pain will be very short and extreme ecstasy”.

The prosecutor said Davies then recorded a clip of himself singing the Coldplay love song Yellow and sent it to the girl, and talked about travelling to Yorkshire to meet the “girl”.

Davies was later arrested and in a police interview he accepted exchanging messages with the Facebook profile in question but said there was nothing sexual in the messages.

He said the pair were just friends and that he had a “dead c**k” and was asexual and therefore was not attracted to anyone.

Sending him to prison, the judge said he had no doubt Davies was a “very calculating individual” and should be considered a dangerous offender.

Davies was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was due to serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register.

A HMP Parc spokesperson said: “Mr Gareth Davies (DOB 12/06/1966) passed away at an outside hospital on November 27, 2025. As with all deaths in custody, this will be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. The cause of death will be for the coroner to determine.”

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