THROUGHOUT the many decades and centuries of recorded history, there have been a number of interesting stories around the Amman Valley areas.

Some of these stories may be simple, but some can be a bit more complex and mystifying.

A number of people enjoy reading the stories of crimes and mysteries by authors such as Agatha Christie, where the elaborate schemes can seem so far fetched from reality, but there are also instances in real life of similar things happening.

One of Agatha Christie’s go-to methods of deaths in her novels is poisoning (so much so that in her home county of Devon, there’s a special ‘deadly plants’ garden which highlights the plants used in her novels) and here we are going to look at some cases throughout history where there have been poisonings in the Ammanford and surrounding Amman Valley areas – whether they are intentional or accidental.

On Saturday, April 11, 1896, The Herald of Wales published an inquest which heard that the death of an Ammanford girl had been due to poisoning. The inquest heard about the death of an 18-year-old girl called Esther Evans.

In the inquest held at Carmel Post Office in Ammanford in front of Llanelli coroner Mr W. B. Roderick heard how Esther was a farmgirl at Pantglas Farm and that the doctor had refused to provide a death certificate without speaking to a coroner due to the unusual circumstances of her death.

Thomas Evans, father of Esther, told how she was sent home on the Monday in a serious condition and had died on the Wednesday. He also said that he was not aware she was pregnant and that she had never spoken with him about poison of any kind.

A witness, Lizzie Jones, of Glas Farm, stated that “P.S. Evans found some poison in the deceased’s box, in a cup, and in a bottle” but was not aware of it prior to this.

A friend of Esther’s, David Jones, of Panthowel, who was also 18, said he had seen her on March 24 and she had told him that she was pregnant but did not say anything about taking poison.

P.S. Evans also provided evidence stating that the poison he found in the box was marked ‘vermin destroyer’ and ‘phosphorous paste.’

The article stated that medical evidence from a Dr Henderson told how he had visited Esther and she would not answer any of his questions. When he then carried out a post mortem after her death, he found her ‘heart was faulty, but the other organs were healthy.’ He stated that death was caused by poisoning and Dr D. A. Hughes who assisted said he ‘would not like to commit himself on the deceased’s condition.’

The initial inquest was then adjourned, with the paper reporting that the ‘sensational poisoning case’ had a great deal of interest in the local area, particularly as Esther was well-known and there was ‘conflicting medical evidence’ from the doctors.

When the inquest was resumed later that week, the paper reported that Dr Hughes stated that he was of the same opinion as he had been on the last occasion. “He had no doubt that death was due to phosphorous, which had been taken in a soluble state.”

Following deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of “We find that death was due to phosphorous poisoning, but we are unable to say under what circumstances it had been taken, as there is no evidence to show.”

An article in the South Wales Echo on July 10, 1890, showed how one mistake can have serious consequences. The article read: “A sad accident has happened to an assorter at the Pantyfynnon Tin Plate Works named Thomas Davies. While taking his food he drank a quantity of spirits of salts, used for soldering tin boxes, mistaking the bottle for one containing ginger beer.” The report stated that Thomas was in a 'precarious condition.'

In the Lancashire Evening Post on August 21, 1924, there was a short report about a more nefarious poisoning of dogs in Ammanford. It read: “Poisoning outrages in the Ammanford district of Carmarthenshire have caused the death of a number of valuable dogs, and the owners are offering a large reward for information which will lead to the detection of the culprit.”

A case of arsenic poisoning was also recorded in Ammanford rivers in a February 7, 1925, edition of the Daily Mirror, which led to the deaths of a number of cows. The piece read: “Farmers allege poison escapes from works to river: Ammanford, west Wales, Council have decided to take steps to prevent river pollution.

“A deputation of farmers stated that arsenic found its way into the river from some works and was absorbed by the fish, which were eaten by the public.

“Cows died from eating coal-dust and others from grazing on land inundated by the polluted river.”

A case highlighting the importance of getting injuries checked out was reported in the South Wales Daily News on March 17, 1908, which read: “Mr Martin Richards, coroner, held an inquest at Ammanford on Monday touching the death of Thomas Davies, Bettws, Ammanford. Deceased was injured at Ammanford Colliery on October 26th. He returned to work in December but had to leave again on March 5th.

“Dr Brereton attributed death to septic poisoning. The jury returned a verdict of ‘death from septic poisoning following injuries accidentally sustained at Ammanford Colliery.’”

The Western Mail reported the death of a coal miner on October 19, 1943, after an explosion at the Ammanford Colliery on May 8 where a man named Heighway was killed by gas poisoning in a part of the pit which had no ventilation and was not fit to be worked in.

A five-hour hearing found the charges against the owners from the Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Ltd to be found and the owners were fined for charges of inadequate ventilation, no appropriate stations, issues with the electrical plant and carrying out improper inspections.

On Monday, December 11, 1995, a report was run in the Dundee Courier which highlighted the case of an Ammanford couple amongst eight carbon monoxide-related deaths due to heaters. Showing the importance of ensuring your home has clean chimneys.

The article stated that a couple in Ammanford, alongside a couple in Dyfed and a Durham University student had all died within a month relating to carbon monoxide poisoning as a safety group warned of the dangers of faulty boilers and heaters.

An article in the July 7, 1996, edition of the Wales on Sunday highlighted the above case in more detail, with the deaths being due to coal fire fumes after the chimney was blocked. A case in nearby Capel Hendre was reported on February 28, 1996, in the Carmarthen Journal when the chimney of a stove became blocked with soot and mortar, leading to the death of a pensioner from carbon monoxide poisoning.

These stories show that you should be careful with what you ingest and ensure that there is adequate ventilation.